Nightmare Bottle
by Sakaki's Little Sis1
Summary: Lust and Envy are out to get Al, knowing that they can get to Ed through him. Giving him nightmares so he'll fear them ever before they capture him makes him a nervous wreck. When he is kidnapped what will Ed do? Complete, Alternate Endings!
1. Default Chapter

Disclaimer: Sadly, I do not own Full Metal Alchemist.

Warning: Al torture, some swearing, Lust, Envy, Gluttony...

IIIII

_Al looked up into darkness, feeling nothing, thinking nothing, knowing nothing. He heard a faint shout off in the distant. A female shouting. There were loud clanks of his metal feet stomping on the ground as he made his way through the emptiness._

_Stopping at the scene, he saw his mother, looking enraged. He saw a smaller him, around ten, crying hysterically on his knee's, pleading for something. Al once again looked at his mother who kept shouting, "Just stop it, Al! Just stop being such a baby! Why can't you be more like Edward! You've never been good to me!" over again. The metal Al wanted to move to go near his mother but he wasn't sure what he would do. She was so angry. He never saw his mom angry before._

_"Mom...?" He asked._

_The women ignored him, keeping her eyes staring down at the smaller Al who was sobbing into his hands, "I've always been told you're a brat and now I've been proven right! Just...just leave me alone..."_

_"Mom!" Al shouted, clenching his hands, "Stop it! Why are you so mad at me? What's wrong?"_

_Still she didn't hear him. Instead Al could feel himself being pulled back. Turning around to see what was going on, he saw something wrapped around his left arm, and looked to see it connected to Lust. She was pulling him towards her._

_"Come here, Little Elric, let's see what's really inside of you," She whispered while tugging on him, "I'll take you apart, piece by piece..."_

_"Brother! Brother!" shouted Al, hoping his brother would come to his rescue like he usually did._

_"Now hush, Little Elric, we don't want to upset your mother, now do we?" Lust questioned. She shoved him to his knee's in front of her. Her red eyes glaring down, shining even if there was no light._

_He heard his mother screaming. Something was wrong. He tried to turn around but her grip was to strong._

_"Mother! Brother!" shouted Al in hope that someone would help him._

_"You shouldn't struggle. It's only going to make this even worse," Lust said in a sultry voice. Kneeling down she looked him in the eyes, "Your brother isn't coming. He isn't going to come ever again. You're the only Elric left. But I'll change that soon enough..."_

_Al heard even more shouts coming from his mother. He couldn't look to see what was happening to her since Lust had him directed towards her but he wanted to see why she was screaming. It was becoming unbearable. He wanted to know what was hurting his mother! Lust turned him around herself after a minute._

_She was once again that thing they she had changed into when they brought her back from the dead._

_Feeling a finger on the back of his neck, it started cracking the seal that was keeping him together. For the first time in the while he could feel an emotion. Fear._

_Fear struck through him, making him shout as loud as he possibly could, "Brooottherrr!"_

IIIII

"Brooottherrr!" Ed heard ring in his ears and he immediately woke up. Looking across the room he saw Al, sitting up, the sobbing echoing in the shell of the suit.

"Al? Al? What's wrong?" asked Ed.

Al didn't answer. He just hung his metal head, his hands shivering from fear, and he wouldn't say a word. He just kept sobbing.

_I-I almost died...I could feel it...not only in my dream, but in reality..._ thought Al to himself. He could hear his brother call his name from the other side of the room but he ignored it, _He didn't come to help me either._

The elder Elric walked over to his little brother and knelt next to his bedside, "You have to tell me what's wrong," demanded Ed, "Otherwise I can't help you. Now stop crying, okay? I'm right here."

"Mom..." sadly said Al. He gripped his sheets as he said, "She was yelling at me. A-And I was crying. Then Lust came in and I was yelling for you b-but you didn't...you didn't come! She almost killed me brother! I-I-I..."

"Calm down. It was just a nightmare," Ed said smoothly. Though, it didn't help much, "I would come in real life. I promise I would! Always. Do you think I'd actually let Lust, Gluttony, or Envy get their hands on you?"

"I...no."

"Of course not. They won't come after you, I promise," Ed said with a reassuring smile. Al nodded slowly even if he wasn't all of the way convinced, "You gonna' be okay?" The blonde got up next to his little brother.

"I should be. But I don't think I'll be able to get to sleep. I was...scared. I shouldn't be able to feel emotions but I truly felt fear. Why can't I feel happiness or joy instead?"

"You will when I get your body back!"

"You've been saying that but it hasn't happened yet!" snapped Al.

Ed's golden eyes dimmed a bit. Looking down at the hardwood floor, he covered his face with the auto mail hand. True enough. He hadn't gotten Al's body back but he wasn't going to give up. But it seemed even Al was loosing hope. Usually he was chalk full of it. How much did that nightmare really disturb him?

"I-I'm sorry brother. I didn't mean it. I know we'll both get our bodies back...We will. It's just going to take time is all."

He watched as his elder brother moved slowly over to his own bed. Al had forgotten for a moment that Ed felt a whole lot of pressure every single day from many directions. The military, Roy, Al, even himself. He was only fifteen years old yet he carried himself as an adult. Al even forgot for a moment that he was talking to the only family he had left. A stupid nightmare didn't mean anything.

Except, Al didn't like the feeling of fear. It shook him that bad. Lust nor Envy ever came after him anyway. They were always after Ed. That really shouldn't make him feel comfortable but that nightmare shouldn't mean they'd come after him. It would be stupid to think that. Al laid back down in his bed but wasn't sure if he wanted to go back to sleep if he were going to just have another dream like that. He didn't want to wake Ed up again either.

So Al stayed up the rest of the night. The image of their mother brought back from the dead dancing around in his mind...

IIIII

Hanging on the railing outside, Envy slipped down the side of the house. He had a straw in his mouth that dripped a mysterious fluid off of the opposite end. He carefully put it in his back pocket.

"Well, that's done," He said to himself. Then he chuckled to himself, "Sweet dreams for the rest of the night Little Elric."

IIIII

Not far away in the darkness, Lust leaned against the wall of the abandoned building, her cloak just reaching over her eyes. Gluttony was standing beside her, feasting on a victim. She heard light footsteps coming from the right of her so she looked over to see Envy who had a grin on his face. That meant things went well.

Standing straight, she let the cloak fall to the ground to reveal her curvy figure. Lust asked, "I suspect it went well?"

"Yes. They didn't even realize I was outside the window at all," he chuckled. Bringing out a straw from behind him a small gooey black fluid dripped from the end, "Guess we have some left. I did stick around to see if it really worked. Sure enough, Little Elric was squirming around in his bed in no time."

"I paid good money for that Nightmare Bottle. It sounds fake, a small liquid that can cause nightmares, but I knew it would work," She said with a sexy smile, "Little Elric will be afraid of us in no time."

"Like he shouldn't be afraid of us this whole time?" Envy sat down in a chair, crushing the straw with his foot, "What's the next plan Lust? I'm interested to know why you're going through this for the Little Elric. Aren't we supposed to be going after Full Mini?"

"Yes. We usually do go after Full Metal, but I figured since we can't get him, we'll go after the Little Elric," Lust explained. Putting a hand on her hip, she brushed back her silky hair, "First we go after the little one mentally. It shouldn't take much. He is only fourteen, can't be to hard, right? Especially when the Nightmare Bottle takes full effect. Then we can take him no problem."

"I still don't see the point. We know that there's nothing in there. We can't do anything with him."

"Do you realize how much it would break Full Metal's heart if we got our hands on Little Elric? I bet if we even put one scratch on his metal he would panic," Lust smiled at the very thought. Full Metal panicking as she almost breaks his brother into tiny peices on the floor.

Envy nodded, "If we want to get to Full Mini, we go through Little Elric."

"Right. If we have him I'm sure Edward would do anything to get him back. Then we can finally get rid of that pest," Lust looked at Gluttony who was licking his lips, "I'll even let you have a little taste if you want, Gluttony."

"Yes. Yes. Full Metal will taste great!" He said through a bloody grin.

"Can I play with the boys mind?" Envy asked, transforming into Edward as he said, "I just feel evil today."

"When we get him I'll make sure he'll be messed with. I don't want him feeling at all comfortable around us," Lust assured her comrades, "Let's just try and focus on getting him detached from Full Metal's arm. He's always following him around."

"Don't worry. I'll do that job," Envy said, changing back to his regular form.

Lust looked out the window, wondering how the younger Elric was doing right about now. If he was having the nightmare still or if he had woken up in a scream. If he was scared to go back to sleep. If he was scared of them. Without even knowing it she let a smile cross her lips.

_We'll get you soon Full Metal. I promise. To bad that you have a little brother. I feel sorry for him. He might have a body of metal, but he still has a mind that we can play around with..._ Lust thought evilly, _I can't wait._

IIIII

Despite his best efforts Al couldn't stay awake. He drifted away into sleep once again only to find this dream would only be more unpleasant...

IIIII

_Al looked down at his body. Flesh. Feeling his arms, he felt actual skin. He sat on the dark ground with the moon shining down on the water. He walked over to the river and looked down. He was...real. He looked exactly the same way before he got transformed. In the same clothes. Same hair. Same eyes. Al knew that this couldn't be real._

_Pinching himself hard enough that he bled it felt real. The pain felt real. The blood was absolutely real. But he didn't mind the pain. He was to excited to be in a real body again! Thinking for a moment, he knew this was a dream, but when he felt his arms, or lifted up his leg and it didn't feel cold or heavy as they used to he wanted to believe so bad it wasn't a dream. Maybe it was reality. A good reality. Did Edward finally get them back in their original bodies._

_Al looked around, shouting, "Brother! Brother! Where are you? Did you see me? Brother?" Turning to a tree he saw his brother standing there, a grim look on his face, and a dead look in his eye, "Brother? A-Are you okay?"_

_Getting closer the smaller boy realized something. Looking at Ed's stomach he saw a gaping hole. "Brother!" He gasped, running over to him. Al put a hand on Ed's shoulder and then felt a hand on his own. Looking behind Ed, Lust was there, holding Ed up only by his braid. Enraged Al shouted, "Let him go!"_

_Letting go of his braid Lust smiled and held onto Al's hand. Al felt her fingers seeping into his skin as soon as he tried to get away. Screaming in pain Al fell to his knees. She stopped as soon as he seized pulling away._

_"Don't struggle, Little Elric, I've still got you," she reminded him by letting one finger poke back into his hand, making him yelp, then yanking it back out._

_Looking up Al asked, "Did you do that to brother?"_

_"Who else would?"_

_Al bit his bottom lip and tried to hold back his tears. He turned to his brother who laid on the dark grass bleeding. The boy reached out again in an effort to just touch his brother. Just to see if he was alive. If he was suffering. Yet again Lust dug her fingers into his skin, making him want to pull back, but the boy kept trying to reach his older brother. Edward would do the same for him. He wouldn't give up just because of pain._

_"Stop it, Little Elric, don't make me be mean," She said, wrapping another hand around his biceps and letting those fingers into his flesh. Al immediately stopped trying and fell to the ground once again, "All of this hard work is making me start to sweat. I wouldn't want to do that now. Envy?"_

_Envy came out, a grin on his face. Lust tossed the bleeding ten year old to him._

_Al shook his head, his arm throbbing. He looked at his hand, blood covered his palm, his arm was slick with it. Envy grabbed a fistful of hair and shoved Al's face to the ground._

_"Come on, Little Elric, beg for mercy. You aren't as strong as your brother. Never have been. And as you can see..." Envy forced the boys face up to look at his brother's dead body "...Not even that strength was enough."_

_"Y-You must have tricked him! You would have never beat him on fair ground!" Al replied, "And he's not dead! Brother wouldn't die on me! He's alright! He's fine!"_

_Lust knelt down to Ed, stroking the cold face cheek of the once lively boy. She whispered, "I'm afraid he is dead Little Elric. Tsk, tsk, tsk. He went down so easily too. If you aren't even as strong as he is, you'll never survive against us, weakling."_

_Tears filled Al's eyes. He snapped, "You're wrong! Brother's strong!"_

_"You mean he **was** strong," corrected Envy._

_"Leave me alone!" Al shouted._

IIIII

Sitting up in his bed, Al looked out the window, his arms were shaking. It was bright outside. It was day. He looked around the room. Nobody was there. Not even Edward. Then where was his brother?

On the table was a note. Al read it from his bed:

**Al, I went out for an early breakfast, I should be back around ten thirty or eleven. I hope you're feeling better by then. I tried to wake you up since you were talking in your sleep but I couldn't. Hope we can talk when I get back. **

**Ed**

Al sighed. Another nightmare...were Lust and Envy really like that?

_I don't want to think anymore. I need brother_, Al thought nervously. But he wasn't there. The boy's sobs echoed throughout his body armor.

IIIII

Dang. I torture poor Chibi Elric a whole lot. I probably got a whole mess of things wrong or something so go ahead and criticize me. Constructive criticism please!


	2. Chapter Two: Attack

Authors Note: Somebody in the reviews (sorry, I cannot remember whom) said maybe Al couldn't sleep. Hmm...I don't know if he can, but I'm going to pretend that he can. Hopefully you can pretend too!...because the story won't work if you can't! Oh well. First FMA fic so, like I said, I'd get something wrong. Anyway, please review!

Disclaimer: I still do not own Full Metal Alchemist.

IIIII

Lust put on her cloak once again, she tugged it softly over her shoulders while looking outside the second story window. People passing by, with no worries, no fears, no nothing except smiles on their face. It made her frustrated. So very frustrated that they were having fun while she was made to stay in the darkness with these fools. Then again, these fools were her only comrades, so she better stay half-way nice to them.

Lust turned to Gluttony who was staring at the opposite wall. Envy was sitting on the couch and watching TV. Yes. These fools were just sitting around on their behinds while nothing was getting done. By the end of today Lust wanted Al in this room but it would definitely be no easy job to do. She would do it herself but it would be easier for Envy to go in under a disguise. She brought into thought of who he would go in disguise as. That didn't make any matter though. As long as they got that brat that's all she cared about.

"You seem nervous," Envy said to the women, his eyes still focused on the TV.

"You must be joking. Why would I be nervous?" Lust asked defensively.

Envy replied, "There's many flaws with your plan."

"Really now, Envy, what could possibly go wrong?"

"We don't know if Full Mini is going to be over protective of the brat because of the nightmares. What if Little Elric doesn't frighten easily? Or he just thinks they're only nightmares and we won't actually go after him? Then there's the matter of getting past Edward...we haven't had a constant streak of beating him, despite what the dreams might point towards..."

Lust stretched her fingers to a point at Envy's neck. She hissed, "Do not anger me, Envy. This will work."

"How can you be so sure?"

"And why do you have doubts in me all of a sudden?"

"This Nightmare Bottle might work on humans. But he's an empty shell. What do you think will happen?"

"I thought you said you saw him squirm in his sleep...you wouldn't **lie** to me, now would you?" Her voice got more aggressive and she quickly jabbed her arm forward.

"Maybe," Envy said, moving his head to avoid having the point go into his jugular.

"Don't toy with my plans. I'm not in the mood."

With a smirk he shrugged, "Whatever you say. I'm just making sure that you know things could go wrong. I don't want you to be angry at me if something goes awry, cause you didn't check everything out before you set this plan."

"If I had smart comrades..." she looked over at the Glutton in the corner, drooling "...Then maybe this would go over half way decent."

"What, I'm not smart all of a sudden?"

Bringing back her weapon Lust gave a dirty look in Envy's direction. She flipped up her hood and headed out the door.

Envy said, "Oh, one more thing, Lust?"

"What?"

"We better do this right the first time because I don't think there will be a second. If Full Mini knows we're after his brother he'll be out of this town in no time flat."

"Of course."

IIIII

_I'd talk to brother but...he's got so many things going on right now..._ Al thought as he looked out the window. It was getting onto eleven so hopefully Edward would be getting home soon. Just on cue, he heard the happy voice that he wanted to hear.

"Hey, Al!" cheerfully said Ed as he opened the door. His golden eyes floated towards Al, who was just standing at the window, looking outside at nothing, humming the tune of 'It's the End of The World As We Know It', "Al?"

Turning around, Al droned, "Hello brother. Welcome back."

"Wow. I'm glad your so excited to see me," Ed said sarcastically. Closing the door he began to dig into his pocket, "I got you a present while I was out. I hope that you like it. It might not be alive but atleast it's cute."

Hearing the word 'present' Al walked over to see what his brother had gotten him. Ed smiled as he pulled out what had to be the cutest kitten that was ever hand made. It looked half-way real too. It sat in the palm of Ed's hand, the big blue eyes staring up at Al, it was fluffy with black spots above it's eyes and the rest of it's body was white.

"Wow brother!" Al scooped it into his hands, "It's so cute!"

"That's what I said. Atleast it's cute," Ed replied.

The younger brother got Ed into a crushing hug. He said "Thank you so much, brother! It's so cute! I love it!"

"That's nice but could you stop trying to break me in two?" pleaded the blonde, gasping for breath. He was very pleased when his feet connected to the floor again once Al set him down, "Are you feeling better?"

The young boy sat on the couch, just holding the kitten in his hands. He nodded. All Al wanted to do was admire the kitten's cuteness and be left alone. It took his mind off of what was possibly some of the worst nightmares he had ever had.

Ed kept trying to talk to Al for the next couple of minutes but he could either nod, shake his head, or say nothing at all. As much as Ed didn't like being ignored he would let it slide for once. If he had nightmares of Lust attacking him he wouldn't want to talk much either. That lady could be creepy sometimes. He wanted to talk to Al but he wasn't sure what to say. Surely Al wouldn't want to be reminded about the dreams.

_I'm confused. He's never had nightmares up till now...when we were kids he'd have those silly monster dreams and I would just let him sleep in my bed, but now... _Ed looked at Al's big metal body _...I don't think that would go over to well._

_I remember when he used to have me go under his bed to check for monsters too. And go in our closet. It was kind of funny because I would pretend to get caught and when he would come down to 'save me' I'd jump out at him. I was really the only monster to Al, cause I would always tease him about being scared, when in truth I was scared of the monsters under my bed. Never admitted that to him though._

Now that Edward thought about it he missed having those times where Al would come to him with his problems. He never came to him that much. He wasn't sure if that was because he was growing up or if he just didn't want to be a bother. True, he did have a lot of work to do, but there would always be time for his little brother. Hopefully Al didn't think that it would be a bother to talk to his brother about something.

"Hey, Al," Edward began. He looked at his brother to make sure he was paying attention but he was still staring at the kitten, "Do I have to take that toy away from you to pay attention to me or what!"

"Sorry brother," Al sighed and set the toy on the coffee table in front of them, "Did you need something?"

"Umm...if something was wrong, you would tell me, right?" questioned Ed.

"Of course."

"So what's going on?"

"Nothing."

"Oh, come on. Tell me?"

"Nothing at all."

"...Al. I came into the room and you were staring out the window humming 'It's the End of The World As We Know It'. I know something is up."

"Well, it's just the nightmares," Al replied sadly, "I had another one and-and you were killed."

"Me? Nothing's gonna' happen to me," assured Ed.

"I was in my real body too. And I could feel pain. A lot of pain. Lust attacked me and my whole arm...my whole arm was throbbing. Brother, I haven't felt pain like that in so long, I mean I could actually feel it as if it were actually happening. What's going on? First I get to feel fear and now pain. What a great night that was."

There was a short silence. Edward wasn't sure what to say. He wanted to say "Well, they're only dreams, don't freak out so much!" but that would sound heartless. But he didn't want to go "I'm so sorry Al. It's going to be okay, cause big brother is here" because he didn't want to make this seem like such a big deal.

So the two just sat in silence. Al entertained himself by playing with the kitten and Ed was left to wonder what the heck was going on!

IIIII

In her usual disguise, Lust was, but Envy took the form of a brown haired boy, looking as normal as possible, so the military that were in the streets didn't recognize him. The two walked down the streets towards where Ed and Al were staying. It was full of High Ranked persons who would recognize them on the fly so they had to be very careful of their steps. Luckily (or should I say un-luckily?) Envy knew which room they stayed in because he was the one that spat that Nightmare Bottle Liquid onto Al.

"Are you sure you want to make a move in broad daylight? People will see you," Envy questioned.

"Of course I'm sure. I hired someone to drive the truck we're taking him in. Trust me, he won't make a peep," assured Lust.

"So, go over this with me again...I transform into that stupid Roy Mustang, get Ed out of the room, then start fighting him. Then you'll get Al out of there? You know that place is full of the military. If they hear fighting I'm going to get hurt."

"Then you should get out ASAP."

"Seems like you're giving me the dangerous part."

"Just do this right, okay? It will pay off in the the end. I've bribed, you could say, some people to let us in, so we'll have no problem with them," Lust replied, "I'll get the signal when you shout for me. Of course, you'll have to be far enough away to keep Full Metal from reaching the room."

"Of course. I can do that. What I'm worried about is you getting Al out. Whatchya' gonna' do? Just walk out with him?"

"The car will be parked below their window. Since it's in an alleyway, no one will see us, and I'll drop his head in. His body will be of no use without the head so I'll just push that in too."

"What about dents?"

"...Who cares?"

"Yeah. Right."

IIIII

"Brother? Are you scared of Lust and Envy?" asked Al out of the blue.

Ed was sitting on his bed, his coat slung lazily on the floor, reading an alchemy book. He seemed a bit stunned by the question. He said, "No, why?"

"If you aren't then I shouldn't be afraid of them either."

"Oh, come on Al, your only a child-"

"But your only a teenager! Your only fifteen! You shouldn't have to feel so much pressure and-"

"Hey, don't start that. I chose to grow up," Ed looked down at his book so he didn't have to look at Al as he said, "But that doesn't mean that you have to too."

Al was silent for a moment. He asked shyly, "So...it's alright if I'm scared?"

"Of course. Everyone gets scared once and a while."

"What are you scared of?" Al asked curiously.

Ed raised an eyebrow, "Why would you want to know? You gonna' tell Roy or Hughes and scare me or what?"

"Of course not."

"Well, a couple of things, some silly, some serious. I never like to say my fears really cause I'm admitting weakness," Ed replied nervously. He didn't like being put in the hot seat. Al was just staring at him, waiting for an answer, so he really should say something, "I fear, and this may sound stupid, but I hate ladybugs."

Al, at that point, started laughing.

"Hey! Don't laugh at your older brother, boy who's scared of the dark...still!"

He stopped laughing, and replied, "Well atleast I'm not scared of ladybugs. And the dark is scarier. You don't know what's in the dark. But ladybugs?"

"This is exactly why I didn't want to say anything..." the State Alchemist pouted, crossing his arms.

"Aw, I'm sorry, so...you said there were serious things too. Unless that was a serious thing..."

"It was not!" Ed snapped back. He took in a deep breath to calm down. Bringing his knees up to his chest he looked up at Al who was in the bed across to him, "There were serious ones. Like, of course, the fear of dying. But that isn't the most important one. I...I fear loosing what I've got left. Winry, my friends here, and closest to my heart, you."

From outside the door, Envy listened in, "Awww, isn't that sweet," He whispered as he transformed into Roy. With a smirk he knocked on the door.

Hearing the knock, the brothers said in unison, "Come in!"

"Edward," said the firm voice of Roy as he opened the door. He put on quite a convincing performance. The egotistical look on his face was right on as he came into the room, "I need to talk to you for a moment. Could you step out with me?"

"Sure," Ed said, curious as to why he needed him all of a sudden…and called him Edward.

When Al got up to follow them Envy panicked for only a moment. He said, "Al, you stay here. This is, um, a matter only for State Alchemists."

"You've never minded him before," Edward objected.

"For this I do," Envy snapped, "It'll only take a moment. Don't worry about it."

Figuring it couldn't hurt Ed said to his brother, "I'll be right back. You just sit tight."

Al sat back down on his bed with a disappointed sigh. Edward was even more curious as to what the heck could be so important and secret that Al couldn't be told. Ed wondered if he was up to something. Sure, he had that egotistical smirk, but the look in his eyes seemed somewhat dead.

As they walked out of the room Ed caught glimpse of a women out of the corner of his eye. He saw flowing black hair and that lady's smirk. It was undeniable. He knew what was going on. That lady was Lust. That dead look in Roy's eyes was explained. That was Envy disguised as Roy. Edward wasn't sure if he should take action or go along with whatever they were doing. He stopped in his tracks. Take action now. Better now then later.

_I hope I'm right about this! Otherwise I'm in big trouble! _thought Ed as he tried to kick Envy with back of his heel.

Envy, quickly grabbed onto Ed's leg. Turning back into his original form he asked, "Quite the perceptive one, aren't we?"

"What do you guys want!" Ed questioned, taking his leg back. He looked at Lust to see if she was going to attack but she was leaned against the door.

"You'll see soon enough, Full Mini," Envy replied while grabbing Edward's arm. With everything he had he swung Ed towards the hallway and the small boy was flung across the hall, "We'll get what we came for. Lust!"

"Right," She whispered and headed into the room.

"Al?" gasped Ed, "Is that what your after! Al? Al! Run! Run Al!"

IIIII

Al, who was inside the room, saw Lust standing in the doorway. He jumped off his bed and immediately went into a martial arts stance. He demanded with obvious fear in his voice, "What do you want!"

"You," She said, bringing up a finger which extended immediately towards the armored child. He jumped to the side and it stuck into the wall, and once she pulled it back it revealed the truck that was below.

"W-What do you want me for?" nervously asked Alphonse.

"Why now, Little Elric, you ask to many questions. Just come like a good little boy..." She said softly as she locked the door behind her. She could hear Edward's shouts as he fought Envy, "And I'll call him off of your brother."

"What? Is Envy fighting Ed?" Al's voice plummeted to a whimper. The thought of Ed with a gaping hole in his stomach came back to him. It swam around in his mind. Would that actually happen? Should he give himself up to Lust and Envy?

"Yes. Why? Do you fear Full Mini will loose? You should."

"No! Brother won't loose!" Al got into his fighting stance once again, "And I won't loose to you! I will never go with you! You should leave before you get hurt."

"Such bravery for a weakling," muttered Lust as her index finger jammed into Al's front, cracking it just a bit.

Al remembered his nightmares. Lust almost killed him in the first. Would she do it again? Did she really know about the seal?

"I could kill you right now if I wanted," Lust said.

Then he realized her other finger extended to the back of his neck. Right where his seal was. She really did know where his weakness was. If he didn't do something quick he would fall apart! Though, of course Lust couldn't kill him just yet, that would make her long thought out plan go to pieces. If she killed the boy now what would she use against Full Mini?

Al took the chance. He moved to the side. The finger at the front only scraped his metal chest and the other one made a light scratch on the back of his neck.

_Stupid boy...he should just give up!_ Lust thought in frustration.

IIIII

Edward could hear crashes of something coming from inside his room. He couldn't get in there though since Envy kept blocking his way.

_Dammit! I'll never get to Al at this rate!_ thought Edward as he caught his breath.

"What do you want with Al!" Edward demanded to know, "What has he ever done to you!"

"We don't need to tell you," Envy said.

Ed clapped his hands together, then slid his hand over his automail arm. It turns a sharp edge at the top. He said, "You won't get him. I'll make sure of that," and then charged at Envy.

Envy jumped up above Ed's head. Once looking up the green haired boy kicked at his face. Moving his head Ed slashed Envy's leg. A large gash right on his knee was the result but that didn't slow Envy down. He landed on the ground, not minding any pain, and elbowed Edward in the stomach.

The blonde held his stomach as it ached. Looking at the empty hallway towards his door he heard even more crashing. Edward began running towards there but Envy was following close behind. He jumped forward and landed on the back of the Alchemist. The two fell to the ground, squabbling on the floor. Many punches were thrown back and forth.

Finally managing to get on top, Ed held up his automail arm, the point faced right down between Envy's eyes. Ed spat, "Now tell me what the hell you want with Al!"

"Shouldn't you be checking on him, Full Mini? I'm sure that Lust has gotten him by now," Envy said slyly.

"No way. Al's to strong to get captured. Now tell me!" Ed put the razor sharp edge at Envy's throat. His eyes glared with anger down at the sin he was sitting on.

"I don't have to tell you anything. Besides, you know that I can't die(1)."

"Maybe but I can cut you into little pieces with no problem."

_What's this? I've never seen him so angry. I guess Lust was right to say that Al really is his weakness. That look in his eyes. He's really serious. I should get the hell out of here before I end up in two pieces_, thought Envy.

The two heard loud footsteps. Edward knew those footsteps. He looked up and yelled, "Armstrong! Somebody! Go check on Al in our room!"

In fact it was Armstrong. He nodded and headed into the room. Edward turned his attention back to Envy, "I'd slice you up right now but I've got better things to do with my time," then ran towards the door.

Envy considered attacking him while his back was turn but many officers were running upstairs. He had to get out before his butt was turned in. Looking for an escape route the only thing he could think of right off the bat was the window at the end of the hall. He didn't care if Lust had the kid yet. He just didn't want to get caught.

Ignoring shouts of "Stop or we'll shoot!" and the actual bullets that went right by him, Envy jumped out of the window.

Landing on his side, he saw the truck still running there. It was a police truck. The doors were open wide in the back, and he could see Lust and Al still fighting since Lust did make a huge hole in the wall. He scowled as Armstrong joined the fight, standing between Lust and Alphonse as protection, which worked cause that guy was built like a brick wall.

Going beneath the hole Envy shouted, "Hey, Lust! Get em' already! Don't make me come up there!"

"I will not let you lay a hand on this boy!" Armstrong declared, throwing off his coat, flexing his muscles with those pink sparkles shining around him.

"...That really wasn't necessary," Al said.

"Al!" shouted Ed, finally entering the room. He looked frantically around and saw him. Seeing that he was safe Ed stopped panicking for a minute. His legs felt like jello as soon as he saw the metal armor standing there, looking at him, quite confused as to why he was sweating so much.

"Damn," hissed Lust. She jumped out the hole in the wall and landed next to Envy. Running her hands through her hair, she announced, "We will be back for you, Little Elric! You can count on it!"

Envy and Lust entered the back of the truck while Armstrong looked Al over for any dents. Al asked, "Shouldn't you be stopping them instead of looking at me?"

"Oh, yes," Armstrong shook his head as if he were trying to get back on track.

Lust closed the doors and the car rushed off. Edward ran up next to his brother and friend and frowned. He either could A) Not go after them, B) Chase after the car with the chance of getting them, or C) Use alchemy to make their car flip.

C sounded good.

Ed jumped down, dust trailed behind him as he ran down the street. Al shouted, "Brother! What are you doing!"

The small boy disappeared down the street. Al sighed. There was silence in the room as the boy over looked the damage he and Lust had done. It had been one heck of a battle. The beds were torn apart. The coffee table was in shreds. The kitten...

"Oh no," whispered Al. He walked over to the coffee table, trying to search for the white kitten Ed had gotten for him, "Please, please,_ please _be here!"

Throwing scraps of the table away he finally uncovered the kitten. It had been protected by a large piece of wood. Holding it in his hands Al took in a deep breath of relief. Atleast the kitten was alright. Now if only Ed would calm down.

"Why did brother chase after them?" Al asked Armstrong, not even looked behind him to make eye contact with the man.

While putting his uniform back on, Armstrong said, "Anger. If someone tried to take Ed from you, you would be just as angry, wouldn't you?"

"Yeah. It makes sense," Al said softly. Looking at the bare street Al just hoped that his brother would be okay.

IIIII

Sorry that I suck at fighting scenes :sweatdrops: I tried my best. Please do review!

1: Atleast I think the Sins can't be killed. I hope I got that right. I've only seen the episodes Adult Swim has showed so far so I don't know that much about Lust, Envy, or Gluttony. Just that when Marcoh tried to kill Lust she didn't die. So...yeah. Correct me nicely if I'm wrong, please? And all of my reviewers get all plushies! YAY!


	3. Chapter Three: Cahts Bishop

Thank you for the reviews Please review, once again, I need the support! Oh, and excuse some language in here.

IIIII

Lust scowled in the back of the truck. Swinging her slender leg over her other, she crossed her arms as if she were thinking up another plan. Now that hadn't worked Lust knew that Edward, Armstrong, and all of those Military fools would keep up their guard. This was the Full Metal's little brother. Both they and Lust knew if something happened to Full Metal's little brother, the blonde wouldn't be able to rest until he was back, which was exactly why Lust needed that boy. If they got Al in their clutches Edward wouldn't think twice about refusing to give up.

Oh how Lust knew she screwed up. Big time. Envy sat on the opposite bench, cross legged. Lust glanced over at his smiling face. She knew that was an 'I told you so' for not doing it right the first time. His exact words were _'We better do this right the first time because I don't think there will be a second'_. And he was right. And he knew it.

"Stop your smiling. There's nothing to smile about," spat Lust, anger obvious in her tone.

"Don't be angry at me that you messed up," Envy leaned a bit forward to look at the floor. He noticed that there were Alchemic signs drawn all over the floor, "What are these for?"

"Our driver's an alchemist. If we run into trouble, these will help her."

"And who exactly is our driver?"

"No one you'd know. She's just a young woman who got kicked out of the Military for battery on a fellow officer. The man almost died. That's how good of an alchemist she is."

"She almost killed him with alchemy?" repeated Envy. He thought, _Not like that's anything special._

"She made a spike with a piece of wood. Went right through the man's stomach. She'll be awfully useful later," Lust said with a sudden smile. Opening the window from the back to the front, the bars had been taken out so if the driver had to slip back there it was possible, and she asked, "Are you doing alright so far, Cahts?"

"Yes Ma'am."

"Tell my friend Envy here how you got kicked out."

"Didn't you just tell me?" Envy asked.

"That was only part of it."

"They angered me so I went after the head of my command. Roy Mustang. Unfortunately, he's much stronger, and I didn't have enough sources at my control. I did give him a good enough bruising though. It's just when that woman Hawkeye came in..." Cahts gripped the steering wheel hard as she mentioned Hawkeye "...and then she shot me. After that, I was kicked out, put in jail for a while where I made many of threats. I've been planning to take them out but this seems like the best way to do it. Besides, Full Metal is part of Roy Mustang's crew, so he means a lot. If he isn't able to function that'll put a major dent in anything Mustang has going."

"Your rambling...don't do it again," Lust warned.

"Sorry Ma'am."

"And don't call me Ma'am. It makes me seem so old," Lust replied. She heard a snicker come from Envy, "And no comments from the peanut gallery."

"Yes Miss Lust," Cahts replied with a nod while keeping a firm eye on the road. Looking in her side mirror she saw the blonde chasing the car, and surprisingly keeping up, "Miss Lust, should I take care of this little problem?"

"Go ahead. Just don't kill him, okay?" Lust replied.

The car stopped right in the middle of the street, resulting in Edward stopping also. Cahts stepped out of the car, revealing her looks of her white hair flowing behind her back, a long sleeved, tight black shirt shaped around her curvy figure. Green pants buckled loosely at the waist reached down her lengthy legs to tennie shoes. Big red eyes stared at him intimidatingly. A gun holster was at her thigh but she didn't make any movement towards it. Who was this lady?

Ed was awfully confused. He thought, _This is the right car...right?_

"Edward Elric. Step back or I will be forced to hurt you," Cahts said, clapping her hands together.

Edward was all the more confused. He asked, "Who are you? Did I miss something?"

She put her hand on the side window and it transformed into a small dagger. Holding it at her palm she asked, "Are you going to stop following Miss Lust or not?"

"Ah, so she must have hired somebody," Edward said to himself, "And it seems you don't need a transmutation circle either. I can do that too," Edward clapped his hands together, then put his arm on his forearm, making the once sharp edge into an even longer, larger sword, "See? No transmutation circle either."

"Should I be impressed of that little trick because I'm not. You think you're so grown up but really your just a short, stupid alchemist who happened to pass the test," teased Cahts.

His eyebrow twitched with the shout of, "Who are you calling short, Albino?"

"Hey, being Albino is nothing to be ashamed of! You're the short one!" snapped back Cahts.

Lust opened the door open, swinging her legs over the edge of the truck. Envy jumped out with a taunting wave over at the blonde alchemist.

"I'll see you later, Cahts," Lust said as she began to walk away, her hips swinging. Envy followed close behind.

"Where do you think your going?" Edward yelled as he began to charge towards them.

"No way!" The Albino woman was standing in his way in no time flat. Clapping her hands together once again, she placed her hands on the ground, where it began to shake.

Edward lost his balance and fell hard on his behind. Squinting upward he saw something trying to fall on him. Cahts had also made part of a brick building fall apart! Edward yelled in panic as he ran away from the large blocks of bricks.

"What do you have against me?" Ed demanded to know.

Cahts brought her gun out. Holding it up in the air, she said, "I have nothing against you, Full Metal, just your leader," and the gun ran out.

_What is she doing? That was pretty stupid. That shot was nowhere near m... _He wasn't able to finish his thought as something entered his side. His eyes widened as he realized why she wasn't shooting at him. She used the metal sign to the left to make a ricochet off into his side.

Gasping in pain the small boy grabbed his side to stop the bleeding. He then felt a blow to the head. Cahts had already made her way over to the boy and hit him in the back of the head with the bunt of her gun. He fell to his knees. His head and side were throbbing.

With no warning Edward kicked Cahts at the ankles. She was caught by surprise, especially since she thought Edward was down for the count. Hitting the ground, and hard, the gun hung loosely in her hand. She didn't have enough time to grip it before Ed grabbed it away. Cursing under her breath, the red eyed woman looked up at the angered boy, one hand shakily holding the gun and the other holding his side.

"Now tell me where Lust and Envy's hideout is!" ordered the upset boy.

"Like hell," She spat back.

"If you have any will to live you will tell me. I have no desire to kill you but I'm pissed off!" He shot the ground next to her. She didn't even so much as flinch, "Tell me!"

"If I do they'll kill me. And I'm sure it'll be even more painful then a gun shot to the head. So go ahead. Shoot. I'm sure you've killed before, being the military's **bitch** and all."

"You aren't worth it," Edward snarled while emptying the gun. He threw the empty thing at Cahts, her surprised expression showed innocence in her eyes. As he turned his back he added, "And just for the record: I'm no body's bitch."

IIIII

"Brother!" Al shouted as the wounded soldier came stumbling into the front desk. Armstrong waited with the armored boy along with Hawkeye and Hughes. They all rushed over to the wounded boy, "What happened to you! Are you okay? What went wrong?"

Edward held his left side with a bloodied hand, it still dripped through his gloves, making it blood soaked. He still made a smile appear on his face, "Hey, Al, no need to freak out. I just got sho-"

Hawkeye hit Edward over the head, "You idiot boy! You could have gotten yourself killed, going after them alone! You should have waited for us or atleast have Armstrong go along with you!"

"Hey! I got hit in the head! Haven't you ever heard of not hitting an injured person?" Edward pointed to the bump on the back of his head to prove it.

"I failed in my duties," sadly said Armstrong.

"No. I wanted to do it alone," quickly said Edward, "I wanted to get them. But I wasn't able to do it. They hired somebody to distract me while they escaped. Some lady with white hair and red eyes. I tried my best but...now we have nothing to do but make sure they don't get back in."

"Yeah but you have to admit it was pretty stupid running into action like that. Whether you wanted to get revenge on them or not wouldn't matter if you ended up dead, right?" Hughes questioned, shaking his finger at him. Looking at the wound he made a sour face, "So you're staying at my house for the night. They won't know that you're there. And you'll get to see my sweet baby girl! She's missed her big brothers so much too!"

"I'll be happy to see her but what if they do find out we're there...?" asked Ed.

"Oh how would they know?"

"I'm not sure...I just wouldn't want to put Elisia(1) in danger, or your wife."

"Don't worry. I'm there."

"...And?"

"Be quiet! Now lets get you patched up!" Hughes began to rush Edward towards the medical department. He called to Armstrong and Hawkeye, "Keep an eye on Al for me!"

"Yes sir!" They both said with a nod.

Al, even though he had no ability to show expression, was obviously sad. He held the kitten still in his hands as if it were real.

IIIII

In Hawkeye's room is where the three ended up at while waiting for word from Hughes that Edward was all patched up. Armstrong was sleeping in an extra bed and that left Hawkeye and Al up on the couch, lazing around.

"Hawkeye?" Al broke the silence, "Can I ask you a question?"

"Sure."

"If anything were to happen to me would you keep a close eye on brother?"

"Nothing's going to happen to you. I'll make sure of that so don't even think about it," sternly replied the military woman. Even though her eyes showed concern her voice didn't.

For a moment she forgot that she was talking to a child. Even though he had been through so much he was only a fourteen year old boy and sometimes needed to be treated as such. Hawkeye was just so used to dealing with adults. It wasn't often that anyone saw a child in the military. Though Al wasn't in the military, he often acted like it, going on missions with Ed. He was so attached to his brother. Hawkeye silently swore to herself that she would do anything in her power to keep him safe. If he were gone there would be no telling how that would break Edward. It would be heart shattering to know that the enemy had his baby brother. Everyone else would be upset about it too.

"Al, you know how much we care about you, right?" Hawkeye asked out of the blue.

Al asked, "What do you mean?"

"Even though we don't say it but we really do like you Al. We'll make sure that your safe. All of our effort will be pushed forward to making sure that you won't be hurt, alright?"

The boy nodded. He handed Hawkeye the kitten and said, "You name him."

"A-Are you sure?"

"Yep!" he chirped.

"Well...it is awfully cute," She said while looking it over. Taking a moment she said, "How does Smokey sound?"

"Smokey?" he repeated, "Sounds great! But why Smokey? Any reason?"

"I used to have a cat named Smokey when I was younger. She died when I was eleven. I really miss her now that I think about it but I'm sure this kitten deserves the name" Hawkeye sighed contentedly.

"Brother got me that as a present today."

"Oh, really now? That was thoughtful."

"I think it was because I snapped at him last night. He probably thought I was mad at him."

"I didn't think you could ever get mad, Al," joked Hawkeye with a smile, "Why did you snap at him though? That's not like you. Your usually so gentle, caring, and nice. That's why I like you. You're not like the rest of the people around here."

"I had nightmares last night. Lust and Envy...the first one had mom in it too. The first wasn't as bad as the second though. Lust killed brother in the second one. I could feel the pain because I was real again," his fists tightened, "I just had to feel pain instead of something else, didn't I? I don't understand how that could happen but it did."

Hawkeye looked at the top of the helmet. She asked, chipping at some black, dried crust on there, "What's this Al? Are you rusting?"

"No. I don't think so."

Taking a closer look Hawkeye remembered something when she was going through files last night. She whispered, "Nightmare Bottle."

Al repeated "Nightmare Bottle? What's that?"

"It causes nightmares for everyone if applied on the skull. Funny though because...well, to put it straight you don't have a body so it shouldn't work," Hawkeye said while rubbing off the crust on the floor. Making sure it was all gone she added, "We should make sure that's all off before you go to sleep tonight or else you'll have nightmares."

"Right. Thanks Hawkeye," he replied, happy that he wouldn't have those horrible nightmares again tonight, as she took the helmet off of his body to take into the bathroom.

IIIII

In the Medication Center of the Quarters, Edward was painfully having the bullet removed. The nurse was trying to be as delicate as possible, the cold ice trying to numb the pain, but it was still making Ed squirm a bit. The bullet wasn't deep enough that they had to cut him open under Anesthesia.

With one more prick of the tweezers, which Ed considered a barbaric way to get it out, the bloodied bullet came out. Ed made a grunt as it throbbed. The nurse signaled after a moment that he could sit up now on the ice cold table so he did. Very, very slowly and with Hughes's help. Ed didn't want to be a child that needed to be taken care of but in this position he had no place to talk. Hughes wouldn't hear of it. The nurse left Hughes to bandage it for he wanted to talk to the teen for a bit in private.

As soon as the nurse left Hughes started wrapped up his wound. Bringing the bandages all around his waist, he realized he had to give one big tug to make it stay. With a sigh Hughes warned, "This'll hurt, Ed, so feel free to yell if you want," and with that he pulled as gentle as he could. Which wasn't that gentle at all.

Ed took Hughes advice. He yelped in pain as it shot up his side, making Hughes squint at the loud shout, but he just began to shiver from after-shock. Forcing himself to sit up straight the boy took in deep breaths.

Sweat slid down his brow, his braid was undone making his hair stick to his body. He said, "Thanks Hughes."

"No problem," He said with a smirk. Pulling up a steel chair, Hughes added, "So, Ed, tell me what's on your mind."

"Isn't it obvious? Al of course," Ed replied.

"Do you have any idea why they would go after him?"

"I kept asking Envy but he wouldn't say. Otherwise, I'm not sure why. It's to much of a coincidence that he's been having nightmares about them and all of a sudden they come after him."

"Did he say what the nightmares were about?"

"Well, Mom was in the first. And I was murdered in the second."

"Probably the two things he fears most."

"I don't think he fears our mother, Hughes."

"But he could fear thinking of her," he clarified. Shrugging he said, "I don't know either, Ed, but all we can do is protect him. I'll have somebody stay over at our house too. How about Armstrong?"

"No! No! I don't want to stay with you. It'd cause to much trouble. But...if it comes down to that…how about Hawkeye?"

"Nope. She's got to look after Mustang. Looks like we're stuck with Armstrong," he replied, "And whether you like it or not your staying over at my house. No ands, ifs, or buts."

Ed hung his head, "I have the worst luck!"

"Ed, don't feel like you have to do this on your own either."

"Huh? What are you talking about?"

"Don't play dumb with me. 'Al's my little brother, my responsibility! I'll take care of him!' then next thing you know he's in the arms of those freaks. I know you might be eager to play the role of big brother but you must realize we care about the kid too. Let us help."

"...I just don't want him to leave my sight. If I had the strength I'd up to Hawkeye's room and watch over Al myself."

"See? That's what I mean. Let us help," Hughes forced his perspective onto Edward, "And your in no shape to do anything. Your side is screwed up now. Speaking of which, nice going."

"Shutup," Edward playfully reached over and gave Hughes a tap on the shoulder, "Can we go now?"

"Ed. Calm down. Armstrong and Hawkeye are with Al. What could go wrong?" Hughes questioned. Thinking about that question he added, "Nevermind. Don't answer that."

"Exactly. I think Al would be more comfortable with _me_ protecting him."

"Not with your side like that."

"I'm not handicapped! Let me protect my brother!"

"And let us help!"

"Your hopeless!"

"And you are an idiot!"

"I would have expected to have this conversation with Roy, not you," huffed Edward.

"Come on over to my house, Ed. I'll assure you everything will be okay! Lust and Envy won't even know that your there."

There was a knock on their door. Ed said, "Come in," with the hope it was Al. It wasn't.

Instead, a women with her white hair up in a bun came into the room. She was wearing a nurse uniform so they felt no need to be alarmed. Her red eyes looked up from her papers to Ed.

"Are you Edward Elric?" she asked sweetly.

"Yes. Why? Who's asking?"

"I'm sorry. Just that we had a set back...before you leave you have to get a shot in your side because there appears to have been some poison on that bullet," she said nonchalantly. Ed's face grew pale. She added quickly, "Oh, but don't worry, it's not deadly. It would only make you sick for a couple of days but we don't want our Full Metal Alchemist going down, now do we?"

"We are in a hurry, Miss, so could we hurry this up?"

With a glare in her eye, she asked, "Why? Where are you leaving to?"

"He's going to stay at my house for the evening. My baby girl is going to be so excited to see you, Edward!"

"Oh, you have a daughter now?" the nurse asked.

"Yes! The cutest thing under the sun!" He took out a picture from his chest pocket, of Elisia sitting on the swing with a smile, "I mean, isn't she adorable? A lot of people agree that she'll grow up to be a super model. Don't you agree? Isn't she cute? Doesn't your heart melt just looking at her! Right Ed?"

Ignoring everything that Hughes was saying, Edward noticed that look in her eyes. Red eyes. White hair. Curvy. Long legs...then he felt somebody smack him across the head.

"Stop staring at the girl, Ed!" Hughes demanded, "Sorry about that Miss. He's a fifteen year old boy. Please excuse him."

"Oh don't worry about it."

Shaking his head Edward lost track of his thoughts.

"Alright," She dug into her back pocket. With a smile she took out the needle, "Ready?"

"Eee..." he squeaked at the sight of it. He childishly shouted, "No needles! No! No! No! No! You can't make me! You can not make me! I'd rather be sick! I'll get over it by myself! No shots!"

Holding him down, Hughes sighed for the boy struggled as the woman began to insert the needle. He understood that it would hurt but he freaked out. Guess that he didn't like getting shots.

Grunting in pain, Ed held his bottom lip to stop from crying out. He heard a, "There, done. You were pretty good!" and he was able to relax.

Edward felt a bit woozy. All that stood out was that woman's figure, her red eyes glaring at him. She...looked...familiar...

Hughes asked as the boy fell limp in his arms, "Is this supposed to happen?"

She nodded, "Yes. It's a side affect. Just take him home, keep a close eye on him, and he should be fine."

"Thank you, Miss. What did you say what your name was again?"

"Cahts. Cahts Bishop."

"Sounds familiar...somehow...hmm, oh well. Thank you once again," Hughes said. He got the groggy boy in his arms and headed out.

Cahts smirked. She got away with it. She took out an unknown phone from her back pocket. She dialed a number and asked, "Miss Lust? The job was just done. I injected the Nightmare Bottle into Edward. I had to water it down so it wasn't black, just a bit grey, but he didn't notice. Oh, yes, it'll be much worse now that it's in his blood stream. I'll be back in fifteen, Miss Lust. Oh your welcome."

IIIII

Wow. Hmm...yeah. That turned out different then I expected. I originally planned it as something else but oh well. Thanks for reviewing everybody! You all RULE. You asked what plushies you get. I say you get EVERYBODY'S plushie (Yay, Edward and Al plushie!). That includes Lust, Envy, and even Gluttony. I don't know about you but I want a Lust plushie so bad.

Please review! Everyone, this time, gets..umm..POCKY! Yay! Strawberry pocky too!


	4. Chapter Four: Tricked

Please review!

Warning: Violence, Ed mental/physical torture

IIIII

Safely back in the apartment were the three sins who were basically waiting for the call from Cahts. They were satisfied that she atleast injured the Full Metal but that wasn't enough. They needed him out of the picture. Surely that Nightmare Bottle would work. Inserting it into the blood stream would double the impact, making him twice as tired, and even when he would try to wake up from the effect it would to be of no avail. The fluid was supposed to make you tired anyway but now that he would be tired most of the time it should be easier to capture Al. Getting through the rest of those fools would be easier then Edward.

"She sure is taking a while," Envy commented from the couch.

Lust, who was leaning against the wall near the window, sighed. Shaking her hair out of her eyes, she replied, "As long as she gets the job done I don't really care if she takes her time. Besides, someone just chickened out of it..." she glared at Envy.

"I'm not going undercover again in there today. Not twice in one day."

"She could have been recognized. Cahts was in the military you know."

"Who cares? If she doesn't work then I'll go in myself. Better her then me, right?"

There came no answer.

"Right?" Envy questioned again.

"I'm beginning to wonder about that."

"Hey-" Envy began but the phone began to ring.

Lust walked over to the table and picked up the cordless phone, "Finally. Oh, it got done? Good job Cahts, very good. Sounds like it went exactly according to plan. You were correct when you said it would be doubled if it went into the blood stream? Nice because you better not lie to me. Now get back here before someone figures you out."

"Oh, and one more thing," Cahts said before Lust hung up.

"What?"

"He isn't staying at Quarters. He's staying at some guys names Hughes's house. Know him?"

"Yes. He's in the Military. I've seen him a few times before. I'll find him with no problem. So, your job is done for now, so come back."

"Yes Miss Lust."

IIIII

Hughes loaded Edward into the back of the car. The boy was shivering so they covered him not only with his coat but a couple of blankets. It wasn't cold out at all, the sun shining down onto the streets, so they couldn't understand what would make him shake.

Getting into the drivers seat, there was enough room for Al in the back, and then Armstrong in the passenger seat. Hawkeye said that when she could she would stop by later, maybe with Roy too.

Al looked at his brother. A scared look was on his face as he seemed to cringe in some sort of pain. It could be that his side was hurting but wouldn't he wake up in agony? After buckling Edward in, Al tucked the blankets carefully around his brother's hurt side. He wanted to keep focus on his elder brother for if he didn't he would think to much about Lust being after him. That thought alone scared the boy.

The fourteen year old was brought back to reality once the car started moving. Then a question popped into his mind.

"Um, excuse me," Al said.

Hughes asked, "Yes Al?"

"I was wondering why brother's sleeping. He seemed so awake before."

"The nurse said it was a side effect of the medicine she gave him. There seemed to be some..." Hughes found himself stopping in mid-sentence as he looked back at Al through a mirror. He could have sworn there was expression of sadness on that metal face of his, but of course that was impossible.

"He's going to be okay, right?"

"Sure he is. He's just a bit tired from the fight is all," Hughes replied. He decided that it would be better not to tell Al about the poison, he didn't want to worry the fourteen year old any more then he already was, "So, Al, the million dollar question is why are Lust and Envy after you?"

"...I don't know," Al said in a whisper.

"Don't want to talk about it, eh?"

"I'm more worried about brother."

"You should worry about your well being too, ya' know. Do you know what would happen to Ed if you were captured?"

Al remained quiet. He was still unable to get that image of his mother, or that thing they turned her into out of his head. And then there was Ed...dead...lying on the ground, no life in his eyes. He hung his head in disgust of himself. If he couldn't help Ed in a dream what could he do in real life if he had to battle Lust, Gluttony, or Envy in this condition?

"He'd go nuts, that's what. Worry about getting yourself onto safe ground and that'll make your brother a whole lot happier."

"We were going to send you by train back to your own town for a couple of days but with Ed in this condition..." Armstrong said, "I don't think that's going to happen."

Hughes saw Al tense up in the backseat.

"Just relax! You've got me and Armstrong protecting you!"

"I'd rather have Hawkeye," Al said lowly, "No offense though."

"Awww...attached to Hawkeye, now are we?" teased Hughes, "Al's gotta' crush! Al's gotta' crush!"

"N-No! She's just really nice to me, ya' know?" He said shyly. If he could blush, he really would, "And she's cool. A-And..."

"Aw, come on Al, your fourteen. You probably get a crush on every pretty girl you see."

Armstrong gave a hearty laugh, "Your probably right, Major Hughes."

"Meanie Heads..." Al whispered.

IIIII

_"**Welcome to Paradise**," Edward heard a voice ring through his mind._

_His blurred vision saw read as his eyes opened a tiny bit. He found himself chained to the ground, his ankles and wrists cuffed, the chains only about five feet long which allowed him to atleast sit up. Ed shook his head to get his vision back. His golden locks blew as a strong wind passed by, making him shiver._

_There was grass, a field of flowers. But yet he was sitting on steel, chained to it, and not sure of where he was. Edward was extremely confused._

_"Hey! Is anyone out there!" He shouted. It only echoed with no answer coming back._

_The boy looked down at his body. That's when he realized he was only in his blue boxers. Blushing immensely he looked around for his clothes but they were nowhere to be found!_

_"Alright. I've been sitting her for a couple of minutes and I've had enough of it!" He said to himself._

_Clapping his hands together he then touched his chains that connected to one of the cuffs on his wrist to destroy it. An strong burning feeling followed by a small puff of smoke was the result. It didn't break. Looking at his burnt hand, since he used human hand, it hurt pretty bad._

_"Dammit!" He hissed as he blew his breath onto the still burning marks on his palms, "Where the hell am I anyway? This is getting creepier and creepier."_

_"Welcome to paradise..."_

_His eyes widened when he felt a cold hand on his back. He pulled forward, not sure who it was, but they needed to go out in the sun or something! Turning around a bit he saw Lust kneeled behind him, her eyes staring at him as if inviting him to swing._

_"W-What do you want!" Edward tried to stand up out of instinct but the chains pulled him back down._

_"Don't struggle, Full Metal," Lust ordered, crawling towards the front of him._

_Edward felt the chains pulling him down slowly. No matter how he struggled against it he couldn't help but cooperate. Soon enough he was laying on his back, his arms held up above his head for the locks had moved up on the steel, and his legs separated a bit. He felt like he were on a cross or something._

_"How do you feel, Ed? Comfortable?" Lust asked._

_"Yeah, feeling greater then ever," He said sarcastically._

_Using a sharp finger she began to make a long scratch along Ed's leg, below Edward's knee. He bit his lip as she would keep digging her finger in, almost going deep enough to crack a bone if she wanted. He didn't want to give her the pleasure of hearing him beg for mercy. He'd never do that for Lust. He threw his head back as she began the torment on his flesh arm._

_"It hurts. I can see it in your face," Lust stopped, displeased that he would cry out._

_"Y-Yeah...but I have a high tolerance for pain..." he gasped for air for he had held his breath so he wouldn't yell, "I've had worse."_

_"You realize your at my power, right? If you do as your told we won't have to hurt you."_

_"You don't have power over me. Not now. Not ever."_

_"We'll see about that," Lust said, beginning to carve circles into his leg._

_Throughout the pain Edward kept thinking. Was there anyway to get out of this? What could he do to get out of this torture? He couldn't grab the chains or he'd end up with a burnt hand and he wasn't about to screw up his automail arm. Somehow bearing through what Lust was doing to him, he found after a couple of minutes she stopped, and he got to relax for a moment._

_Breathing in heavily was all he could do. His arms were so up high he wasn't able to move anything besides his hands. His legs allowed a tiny bit of movement but he had most likely got the chains to come out a little, since he tried to bring his legs up to kick Lust in the face, but that was to no avail._

_The woman was getting tired of her torturing his legs and him not so much as whining. All he would do was clench his teeth and close his eyes so tightly tears formed in them; though no tears swam down his cheeks, only beads of sweat shone on his forehead. She watched him gasp for breath as if he had been deprived of air. Coming to his left side, Lust put a hand on his side._

_"Ready for another round?" Lust asked, her eyes hungry for pleas of mercy._

_"G...Go ahead..." He said, the voice that was once filled with courage, was weak. Taking a gulp he prepared himself for pain but found none started. Opening an eye he found Lust's arms being held back by a young boy._

_"What the..." Ed whispered. Looking at the boy, golden hair, green shirt, shorts...it was the human Al right before he was a suit of armor! "Al! Al! Is that you?"_

_Lust swung her arms around but Al hung on tightly. He refused to let go._

_"Al! Run! Go!" ordered Edward._

_"I won't let you hurt my brother!" Al declared, digging his heels into the dirt, trying to keep his ground._

_"I said run before she kills you! Do you want to die!"_

_Lust punched the child to the ground. Making a point with her fingers, she stabbed Al in the shoulder, his scream echoing through the field._

_"Al!" shouted Edward._

_The evil woman picked him up by the shoulder. His blood dripping to a pool of it, making the once green grass red. Al grasped the point and tried furiously to pull back from it but it only caused more suffering for the poor kid._

_**I have to do something!** Edward thought desperately._

_Reaching to the grass behind him, he begged for anything that he could transmute into a long pole. He might be tied down right now but he could still swing something. Grabbing a penny he decided it had to be good enough. Clapping his hands together he smacked his hands onto the penny. It turned into a ten foot pole in a matter of moments._

_"You witch, don't mess with my brother!" Ed yelled as he used all the strength in his wrist to swing her off her feet. He then clapped his hands together once again to make it a big steel box around Lust._

_Al was immediately dropped to the ground. He rushed over to his older brother and Edward couldn't stop staring. His brother was finally back in his body! He was over joyed at the thinking of Al actually being in his human form once again._

_"I'll get you out of these chains, brother, don't you worry," Al said quickly. He reached into his pocket to bring out a piece of white chalk. He made a quick transmutation sign on both of his hand cuffs. After clapping his hands together and laying his hands on each of the cuffs, they broke apart._

_Sitting up, Edward smiled while rubbing his wrists. He said, "Thanks Al. Could you do my feet? For some reason my alchemy doesn't work on these things."_

_There was no reply. Instead, Edward felt arms wrap around him. Those arms were his brothers. The warmth. Real skin. No longer was his little brother trapped in a suit of armor, but he was a living human being, and just that thought took a tremendous weight off of his shoulders._

_Gripping him into a tight hug Ed felt safe for a few moments. Like they could escape together or something. Get away from this life of the military and the danger of Lust and...then a question popped into his head. Where was Envy?_

_His question was soon answered as his 'brother' changed. He changed into Envy. He had disguised himself as Al to fool him!_

_"You tricked me!" Edward accused, trying to get free of his grasp but it was to tight, "You bastard! Let go!"_

_"You really thought Al was back in his body! You are such a fool. I think you should realize that no matter what you do Al won't get back into his body. No matter what, that the guilt that it being your fault that he's in that armor, will not go away. It's your fault, Full Mini. He hates you for it too."_

_"No! No! It's not true!" Edward said._

_Now that he had a physical assault, Envy thought it was just about time for a mental once, so he continued. "Do you think your brother appreciates being in there? You were the one suggested bringing back your mother. You forced him into it. Al was just an innocent bystander that almost got killed for your recklessness. Like I said before, you really are a fool."_

_"Shutup! Shutup! Your lying about Al! Straight out lying!"_

_"Now that I mention your mother...do you remember what she came back as? Tell me, Edward, was it worth it?"_

_Images of his mother came back to him, stronger then ever._

_"Was it worth seeing her as a monster?"_

_Edward felt tears dripping down his cheeks._

_"Was it worth having the guilt?"_

_His fists tightened, wanting nothing more then to hit Envy._

_"Was it worth putting Al in that armor?"_

_Edward whispered, "No...no it wasn't worth it. I realize I made a mistake! Now I'm trying to fix it! So shut the hell up!"_

_He could hear the crying of Al off in the distance. He raised his head to see nothing but the crying grew louder._

_"Stop messing with my head! J..Just st-stop it...please...I can't take it..."_

_"Al's crying. Won't you go help him?"_

_"Make the crying stop! Make it stop!"_

_"Help him, Full Mini. Go ahead. Shout to him that big brother is coming to the rescue. But wait, you can't, because we'll kill you even before you can reach him. He'll be crying for all eternity for his brother will be dead, no mother, and he's stuck in armor. And it's all..." Envy leaned in next to Ed's ear, "...Because of you."_

_Edward started his own crying, if anything to drown out the sound of Al crying._

_Envy and Lust only laughed._

IIIII

_Edward found himself suddenly in a dark place. He tried to wake up. He could hear Hughes, Armstrong, and Al. He was nearly awake. Now if he could only open his eyes...but he was unable to. What was going on! Ed dropped to his knees, not believing what he just heard. Even if that was only a dream...if it was only a figment of his imagination...it still scared him so bad._

_"I'll never let them get you Al. I swear," He hissed to himself. The sound of Al crying once again filled his mind. The laughing of Lust and Envy soon mixed in._

_"Brother, you love me, right?"_

_Looking up Edward saw the present Al standing before him._

_"A-Al? Your okay!" Ed jumped up._

_"Brother, you do love me, right?"_

_"W-What do you mean? Of...of course I do."_

_"Liar!" shouted Al, hitting Ed to the ground._

_As he rubbed the bruise, Ed asked in a yell, "What the hell was that about!"_

_"You're lying! You wouldn't let me be in this armor if you really loved me! It's all your fault that I'm like this! Your fault! I would have rather died then end up like this!"_

_"Y...You can't really mean that."_

_"I do."_

_"No! You don't mean it!" Ed said hopefully._

_Al turned his back to his brother, "I'd rather be dead. But I do feel dead enough now but yet I'm here with...with...you!"_

_**I'd rather be dead. I'd rather be dead. I'd rather be dead...**_

IIIII

The car ride had been short enough, with their conversation ranging from What to do in a Lust situation to Elisia. Al couldn't help but look down at his elder brother, who still looked as if he were in pain. He muttered something once but Al couldn't tell what he was saying. It bothered him that Edward was having troubles and there was nothing he could do about it.

_What's bothering you so much brother?_ wondered Al as the car stopped in front of Hughes's house.

"We're here Al," stated Hughes, leaning over to look at Al, he saw the boy wouldn't even look up at him, "Al? You okay?"

As he finally looked up, he nodded a bit. "Sorry Major, I'm a bit out of it," apologized the armor weakly.

"Don't worry about it. You've had a rough day. Now you can relax for the rest of the evening. I'm sure that Gracia will be delighted to see you boys too!"

Armstrong came to Edward's door to pull the boy out. Snugging his blankets behind his back, he unbuckled him, and scooped the small boy into his arms. It was strange. Armstrong had never seen Edward in such a vulnerable state. He seemed to be struggling in his thoughts for something; or possibly even someone.

The blonde teen suddenly jerked, whimpering a bit. Armstrong asked, "Hughes? Did the nurse say anything about side effects? He seems to be getting pale too..."

"No. She only said he'd be tired."

"That's strange. He might be getting sick. We should get him in bed as soon as possible."

IIIII

"Hi, honey bunch!" greeted Hughes to his wife as he gave her a kiss on the cheek. The bunch came in, surprising her a little, but she smiled once she saw Al and Edward.

Looking at Edward once again she gasped. "Is he okay?" She asked.

"He'll be fine. He...got shot this morning," meekly admitted Hughes.

"That poor boy. Let me take him to the guest room right away. He need his rest!" Gracia demanded and took the boy in her arms. She rushed upstairs while the patter of small feet came by.

"Daaadddyyy!" cheered Elisia, jumping on his back.

"Sweetie!" Hughes reached back and pulled her to the front. Pointing her in the direction of Al, he said, "Guess who came to see you? It's Al!"

"Yaaayy!"

Al would have been more ecstatic but his only concern was Edward. He said, "I'm sorry Elisia. I'm going to make sure brother is alright, then I'll play with you, okay?"

She nodded, though disappointed.

Passing by them all he made his way upstairs.

"That boy worries to much," muttered Hughes.

"Give him a break. His brother was just shot," defended Armstrong.

"Now that I'm home I guess I should make the call to Mustang. He hasn't been informed yet, has he?"

"I don't believe so."

"Oh boy. This is going to put a dent in everything. But I'm sure he'll understand..."

IIIII

"What the hell! Full Metal's been shot, Al's being chased by Lust, and there's another woman on their side!" exclaimed Roy in anger, "Why wasn't I informed on this earlier?"

"B-Because Roy, we just found out about it two hours ago."

"Well you should have called me **two hours ago**."

"Sorry sir but I also have more bad news..." Hughes said nervously, "Edward won't be able to get out of town. He's sick."

"This couldn't get worse."

"Well...I guess I shouldn't tell you this...but do you know a Cahts Bishop?"

After thinking for a moment, he suddenly asked, "How do you know Red Eyes?"

"Red Eyes?" repeated Hughes.

"She was a private investigator on our team. Well, not really on our team, because you didn't know her. She was more of in my side group. Anyway, Red Eyes was the name we gave her because of her outstanding red eyes. She attacked me soon after I fired her for torturing convicts. Why do you ask?"

"Well...that's the girl that gave Edward a shot...she was disguised as a nurse...I was suspicious of it after she gave him one. And I remembered him saying a girl with white hair and red eyes attacked him."

"Dammit Hughes. Why didn't you stop her and arrest her for doing it?" an aggravated Roy questioned.

"Because I didn't realize it until the shot."

"I'll send you a report on her. You should know everything before you go out to arrest her."

"Awww...I have to leave home already?" Whined Hughes, wrapping his finger around the telephone cord, "I just got to see Elisia too."

"I want it done ASAP. I'll send Hawkeye over to help you. Armstrong can stay at the house."

"Uhh...how about Armstrong comes with me? Al would prefer Hawkeye's company to Armstrong's. I believe he thinks of her as a second mom."

"Fine," Roy took in a deep breath, "I'll send a report to you now. Goodbye."

IIIII

Fourth chapter over and done with. Yayyyy! Don't worry, Cahts won't become a Mary-Sue and she won't kill anybody, I just basically put her there to make things even more difficult for the good guys. I can't help but torture them so. Please review!


	5. Chapter Five: Captured

Please review!

IIIII

"You can't tell me we're going after him again tonight," Envy argued, "They might be expecting that. No doubt they'll guard those boys twice as much now."

"Are you saying you won't be able to get past them?" Lust said competitively. "The plan this time is just to go in. A full on attack. Cahts will be by our side also and she'll be the one to get the boy. Gluttony will be coming with us this time, just for extra back up."

"Isn't this just a bit extreme? We could just grab Full Mini if we wanted too. I mean, he's down, we could snatch him instead. I'd much rather have him in my clutches to torture then a suit of armor. Can't do much with that, now can I?"

"The reason we're getting Little Elric is completely psychological. As you put it, he's 'down', and he won't get in our way. I'll even get the pleasure of telling it to his face that he's helpless and where he'll meet us at. Then he'll give himself up because we have what he wants," explained Lust, staring down at Envy who was watching TV. It looked like he wasn't even listening anymore. "Envy! Are you listening to me?"

"I thought we weren't supposed to kill Full Mini yet," he ignored her question completely, because yes, he had for the most part ignored her.

"Change of plans. We have someone else who's willing to make the stone for us," Lust said with a smirk. Her eyes darted to the door that was opened, and Cahts still dressed in a nurses uniform walked in, "Right Cahts?"

"Yes, Miss Lust."

"Hm? Did I miss something? That girl is going to make the stone for us?" asked Envy in a bit of shock.

"Correct. She's just a skilled an alchemist as that boy is. And now that we have no use for him..." Lust extended her fingers, looking in-a-trance by her own hand "...We can get rid of the pest. I'm just choosing to do it in a fun way."

"Fun for us, torture for him," corrected Envy.

Cahts red eyes glared at Lust as if they were angry. The black haired woman only glared back, questioning what the albino girl could be so upset about.

"What?" Lust asked.

"You aren't planning to have him crawl to you, are ya'?" The Albino woman asked.

Lust raised an eyebrow, as so did Envy. "Why?"

"Because at this point, I don't think he even has the strength to crawl," she replied. Knowing that the sins still weren't getting what she was trying to say she went into full on explanation "Nightmare Bottle as double the effect when in the blood stream. Now, I did water it down a bit, but it's pretty much the same as it was. It was a pretty strong dosage. Anymore of it and I would have put him into acoma. So he'll be out for..." She began counting on her fingers "...Six days. At the least."

"What?" Lust hissed, her fingers drawing back to her hand, although she wanted them to go right through Cahts's gut at the moment.

Cahts put a hand on her hip. Defensively, she snapped, "You wanted me to put the kid out. You didn't say you wanted me to put him in a little haze. You wanted a whole frickin' fog!"

"Is he completely knocked out?"

"No. He could probably still hear you."

"You said nothing of this when I told you to do it," Lust hissed.

"You never asked."

"You should have told me, Cahts, because now we have to wait and I do not like waiting!" Lust said, hatefully.

Envy chuckled in his seat.

"What are you laughing about? We're are still capturing Little Elric tonight."

"What!" They gasped out of anger.

"But I told you he'd be out for six days," Cahts said.

"And that means _waiting_," added Envy.

"That means we have to wait for him to get to us. Not for us to capture the boy."

"But if we get him now, and tell him our whereabouts, forget just Ed, it'll be the whole military," Envy said "Don't make a dumb move Lust. It could cost us."

"We're telling them. I'm confident of one thing. Edward won't send his military buddies."

Cahts asked curiously "Why are you so confident of that?"

"Al and his military buddies, they'd all be killed," she said softly. "Now, are you still in on this you two? I hope you won't chicken out."

"We won't chicken out," Cahts spat. "I'm still going as planned. I'll do this. Just know that I won't hesitate to run if the military shows up at our door."

"Fine. Envy? What about you?" Lust looked down at her little friend.

"Of course I'm going."

"Good," Lust draped the cloak over herself once again. "Come on Gluttony. We've got work to do."

Gluttony, who had been staring out the window this whole time, came waddling over. The two sins left Envy and Cahts to wonder if Lust was rushing this just a tad. Oh heck. They knew she was rushing. But why? Usually she would want to handle this very delicately.

"Have any thoughts on why she's being so head-on about this?" Envy asked Cahts.

"I just think she wants to put us all in danger some more. I think she likes to be in constant danger but that's just my opinion."

IIIII

"I'm sure you'll be fine, brother," Al whispered to the squirming blonde. Beads of sweat were dripping down Edward's head, his eyes shut so tight that he could see small tears forming, all the while his hands clutched onto the white sheets as if he were suffering "You've been through worse. Please. Just wake up."

IIIII

"Just wake up..."

Edward looked up from the dark corner he was sitting in. His legs brought up to his chest of which he had been crying softly into. He was confused by where Al's voice came from and what he meant. Wasn't he awake? What was going on?

Of course the fifteen year old knew that it couldn't possibly be reality. It was some weird Alternate Universe that he was stuck in. There was no way that Al would ever say he'd rather be dead...because that wasn't true, right? Then again, being in a suit of armor, not having any of the human senses such as touch or taste, was that really living? Edward could say to himself a thousand times that Al was living but so many outside opinions came crashing in.

What he needed to hear was Al saying -from his own mouth- that everything was okay. That he wanted to be alive. That Edward wasn't selfish by making him stay in that form. Binding his soul to that suit of armor, just because **he** wanted his little brother to stay with him, just because **he** wanted the satisfaction of knowing that **he **hadn't killed Al because **he** wanted to bring their mother back; and most of all, just because **he** didn't want to be the only Elric left. It was all about Edward. What Edward wanted -him to stay, him to be bound to the armor- was the only thing that made him do what he did that night. Was it selfish? Really, was it?

The thought of being an only Elric, the thought of loosing his brother plus knowing it was his fault, had been to much to bear. He also felt obligated that he had to save his brother. That's what older brothers are supposed to do, right? Save their younger siblings? But what did he really do. Save him or damn him to a life worse then death?

Edward tightened his fist in frustration. To tell himself Al was living, it wasn't true. Unless he was in that situation he couldn't say whether he felt he was living or not. Only Al knew that. That's what bothered Ed the most. Only Al knew. Would he ever really tell him what he felt about being only a soul?

"If it were me, I would hate myself too," whispered Edward.

"You've been through worse. Please. Just wake up."

_Al's voice again_, thought Edward with a small smile. Looking up he couldn't tell the beginning from the end. Everything was black with some white outlines. He only found this wall because of those white outlines. I fell like I'm on a drug or something. Was I poisoned?

Red eyes jumped into his memory.

"How could I forget what that woman looked like! That's why I'm like this! She must have put something in that shot. I knew that shots were no good!" Edward said to himself. Standing up, he know knew what he had to do. "I know I'm in a dream land but how do I wake up? I already feel like I'm awake."

"Al! Al!" shouted Edward.

IIIII

"Al..." whimpered his real life voice.

Al looked down at his elder brother in awe. Tears were dripping down his cheeks, his voice raspy.

"Al...Al..." he said once again.

"I'm right here. Wake up, brother, wake up!" Al said loudly. He put a hand on Edward's shoulder and was about to shake him but the boy was fidgeting to much so it wouldn't make much of a difference "It's okay. Come on. I don't know what happened but...you have to wake up. I'm really scared, brother, I don't know what to do."

IIIII

"I'm really scared, brother, I don't know what to do."

"Don't be scared Al," whispered Edward. Raising his voice he said "I don't know what's happening to me. I can't wake up and I don't know why."

IIIII

"Don't...be...scared Al..." His voice managed to squeak. His body was shaking from the effort of talking. "I don't...what's happening to me...can't wake up...don't...why..."

"Brother. Your body. Don't talk anymore. You probably have a fever. I'm going to go get Hughes for some help."

"Don't...go...stay..."

"I said don't talk!"

"I'm...sorry..."

"Brother, this is no time for apologizing!" Al protested. Looking at the door he shouted "Somebody! Come quick! I'm not sure what's wrong with Ed! He's talking to me but isn't awake!"

"You...should..n't...deal with...this..." The blonde's body shivered and settled for a moment. After a couple seconds of heavy breathing, he managed a "It's my fault...forgive me..." Then his whole frame stopped shivering as if he were finally going into a peaceful sleep.

IIIII

Edward heard no reply. He could feel his body getting suddenly weak, as if he had just ran a couple of miles. Dropping to his knees he let tears fall to the floor. The sound of them hitting the icy black tiles rang through his mind. This is what had to be his mind. He was trapped, with no way out, in his own mind.

"I'm sorry Al. I'm so sorry!" Edward curled up a bit, still kneeled over. "I shouldn't have let that girl trick me! Dammit! I'm so stupid! How am I going to be able to wake up!" He looked up, hoping for his brothers voice.

Nothing but silence.

"I'm so tired but...I can't go to sleep..." He fell onto his side, his vision blurring.

He dropped into a dream, still trapped in his own mind.

IIIII

Envy and Cahts were on the other side of the street, sitting in another large police car. Envy, on the passengers side, looked at the Hughes's home with a sigh. It was getting late (it had to be atleast past six now) and Lust nor Gluttony were nowhere in sight. Cahts was waiting patiently enough, shining her guns to the point that her reflection was on it.

"Where's Miss Lust?" asked Cahts finally.

"I dunno. She should have been here by now..." sighed Envy in boredom. "You don't think she wanted us to go in on our own, did she?"

"Heh, no, I wouldn't think so," Cahts said "She shouldn't keep us waiting. I'm getting annoyed."

"Look Cahts, the only reason I'm tolerating you is because Lust hired you, so don't you even start on being annoyed. I'm aggravated and annoyed by just sitting here with you."

"Do you want me to shoot you?"

"Save the bullets for Full Mini."

"Hey, I never asked, but I'm curious now. What do you guys hate so much about this Elric kid? I'm doing it just to piss off Mustang but all you want to do is kill that kid. Seems kinda' strange if you ask me, cause he's only fifteen, and it takes three of you to get him?"

"...Don't ask that. Ever. Again," Envy's tone lowered to a dangerous level. "And don't even start making it seem like we're weak beca-"

"There's Miss Lust!" excitedly chirped Cahts. She childishly waved towards the woman that was a couple houses down. Her signal was basically showing up. Now their plan had to be put into action, "Okay Envy. Let's get this moving."

"Don't you tell me what to do!" snapped Envy. The sin transformed once again, this time into a small, four-year-old girl. His hair now long and white, red eyes, wearing a yellow dress with a flower in his hair. He hated being disguised as a girl...

Cahts had also changed her clothes. Her hair was tied tightly back into a bun with red strips of fabric coming down from the hair tie. Her guns were hidden in the pockets of her shorts. Good thing that these guns happened to be very small, or they would have popped out easily of the pockets. Her T-shirt was a bit loose but she had a white, long sleeved shirt underneath it.

"Are you ready?" asked Cahts.

"Yep," Envy said, his voice that now of a normal four-year-old girl.

"Don't you mean 'Yes, Mother'?" she teased.

He snarled, "Yes Mommy Dearest."

They were planning to be mother and daughter. Cahts was still going to be playing the nurse still, wanting to see if Edward was still okay, and just so it seemed even more innocent she brought her 'daughter' over too. Envy hadn't agreed to the plan at first but when she said Lust had thought of it, he couldn't argue.

The two knocked on the door and Gracia opened it. She had hoped it would be Hawkeye, because Al was pretty much having a silent freak out and nobody could get him to talk. But she smiled despite the desperate situation.

"Hello, Mrs, um..."

"Cahts. Cahts Bishop."

"Well, Mrs. Bishop, Can I be of some help to you?" asked Gracia.

"Um, well..." Cahts pretended to be shy. "I-I was the nurse that gave Mr. Elric a shot. I wanted to see if he was doing okay. I felt so guilty-" Envy chuckled at the lie making Cahts push him a bit with her knee "-about giving him the shot because he didn't want it."

"Oh, well I'm sorry dear but Edward isn't doing to well. He's getting really pale," sadly replied the woman. She asked hopefully "You're a nurse though! You can help him, right?"

Cahts stood frozen for a moment. Envy let out another laugh. The Albino woman said "Uhh...y-yeah...I'll take a-a look at him..."

Bending down, Gracia looked at Envy who was still laughing a bit. "Why hello there little girl. Aren't you adorable?"

Envy said nothing.

"Can you tell me how old you are?"

Envy said nothing again.

"Miss Bishop, is your daughter mute?"

"No, she's just dumb-I mean, shy, is all," Cahts said. She looked down the street and even though Lust was far down, she could still sense impatience. "I-I don't mean to be hasty but could we come in? I'd like to take a look at Mr. Elric."

"Sure. And your daughter can play with my daughter!" Gracia cheerfully said.

Envy trotted in and saw a brown haired girl at the table, grasping a white teddy bear twice her size. That had to be Hughes's daughter. He didn't want to play with a child but if he was disguised as a four-year-old girl, he had to play with another girl he guessed. Pretending to be excited about another girl, he looked up at Cahts for permission to go play with the girl.

"Go ahead, kid," said Cahts, trying to put some care in her voice, but that was a no-go. She looked at Gracia who seemed to have a confused look, "Uhh-er-where's Mr. Elric?"

"Upstairs," Gracia said, "So...that is your daughter, right? And you really were the one that gave Edward the shot?"

"Yes and yes."

"What's her name?" Gracia pushed on, suspicion in her voice.

The first thing that popped into her mind, she spat out, obviously annoyed by the woman's interrogating manner, "Susie. And please don't talk to me like I'm a criminal."

"I'm sorry. I'm just a bit on edge. I thought you were somebody dangerous. I heard my husband, who's in the military, I mean you did see him with Edward, anyway; he was talking on the phone to Roy Mustang about a woman with white hair and red eyes that was dangerous. Jumped to conclusions..." Gracia rambled on as they headed up the stairs.

_Dumb woman. You should jump to conclusions. I just wonder what's taking Lust so long...! I'm no real nurse and I think this lady wants me to do whatever I can to make that kid better,_ thought Cahts.

IIIII

Downstairs, Envy walked up to Elisia, who had noticed that they had came in a couple seconds ago. Elisia asked "Who are you?"

"I'm...uhh..." He looked at anything for inspiration. He saw a vase of daffodils and other flowers and said "Daffodil."

"Oh, okay," Elisia jumped off of her chair, holding her bear. She stood it next to her and asked "Do you wanna' play?"

_No..._ immediately thought Envy so he didn't say it. He said "I guess so."

"Is something wrong?"

_You have no idea..._ Envy thought. _Where is Lust? She saw us come into the house, right? I mean, as much as I would like to go upstairs and see Cahts screw up trying to be a nurse, I want to get this over with already!_

"N-No. Everything's okay," Envy replied nervously. He really, really, really did not want to play with this kid.

The front door opened, making Elisia curious. She started running over to the door. What she saw was a tall woman with black hair and a scary looking, chubby man.

"W-Who are you?" asked Elisia, her eyes wide with fear.

Making sure that no one was around them, Envy transformed back into his original form. He sighed and asked "What the heck took you so long?"

Lust shrugged. Looking down at the little girl, who couldn't find the strength in her shivering legs to run, the woman smirked. She said "Envy? Mind taking the girl for me, just for extra backup to make sure that we get Little Elric?"

Envy reached out for Elisia but she screamed and broke out for the kitchen. "Stupid kid!" shouted Envy.

IIIII

Upstairs, everyone heard the scream. Hughes rushed out of the room and found himself running past two people. He knew that one was his wife, who was just alarmed as he was, but that other woman...red eyes...

_That couldn't be..._ Hughes thought as he twisted around to see Cahts standing there with a smirk on her face for she knew that Lust had finally came into the house. Hughes knew that was the supposed 'nurse' from Central, "Red Eyes! What are you doing in my house!"

"So, finally know who I am?" said Cahts coolly.

"I do now," Hughes said. He looked at his wife who was just wondering what the heck was going on. Hughes was un-armed and all of his weapons were in his room. What was he going to do? And why did Elisia scream? Wait...Elisia! "Dammit!" he spat as he heard his daughter scream again "What's going on, Red Eyes?"

Cahts clapped her hands together and put one of them on his wall. A pole started forming out. Gracia screamed and started running towards her husband. After a six foot pole with sickles on both ends formed in her hand, she turned one of the ends on the Lieutenant.

"Just stay here like a good little boy. Tell me, which room are the Elric's in?" asked Cahts.

"Why should we tell you?"

"I'll find them in the end. Just tell me and nobody has to get hurt."

"I'm not telling you anything," Hughes said. His eyes darted from Cahts to the upstairs a couple of times, making her wonder what was going on.

"I don't think so, little girl," said a gruff voice.

Cahts turned around to see a shirtless and flexing Armstrong and Al, who seemed embarrassed by him doing this.

"Now put your weapon down! I don't want to have to hurt you!" said Armstrong loudly.

Hughes remembered his daughter once again. He grabbed his wives hand and they hurried downstairs. Cahts, before she could chase after them, felt a hand grab her shoulder. It was Armstrong.

"I told you to put your weapon down but seeing as you aren't following instructions..." Armstrong raised a fist to strike her but Cahts jumped down a few steps. She slashed at him a few times, and got lucky. Since he was so big he was a bit slow and she sliced deep into stomach. She ripped to the side. The large man fell on his back, grasping the wound in immense pain.

"Gotcha'!" She shouted and tried to make a lethal stab at him but Al jumped in the way. It only scraped his metal, "Oh, well, hello there Little Elric."

"Stop this now. We don't want to hurt you," Al said, his tone low. All he really wanted to do was be with his brother but it seemed he would have to leave his side for a while.

"Ha! Whatever. Don't take me lightly just because I'm a girl!" shouted Cahts as she flipped up the rod and struck off Al's head. It clanged up onto the roof and fell into Cahts's outstretched hand.

Al's body reached out to grab it back but Cahts just moved out of the way, laughing at his pathetic attempt. And with Armstrong hurt he couldn't help the boy. Cahts just moved out of the way and the metal body stumbled clumsily ahead, falling on it's front. The evil woman laughed.

"Give it back!" Al shouted, trying to push himself up, but it was of no use.

"Come on, kiddo, we've got somewhere to go," Cahts mumbled, kicking the metal body down a few steps.

"Stop it!" Armstrong shouted. With all of his strength he stood up, his hands were covered in his own blood, and he was still bleeding large amounts too. But he had to protect the younger Elric. Edward would never forgive him if he wasn't able to protect his brother.

"Oh, and you'll stop me?" Cahts asked, kicking the metal body down a few more steps just to upset the muscle man. "Not with your injury."

Al said "Don't try and stop her, you'll only get hurt!"

IIIII

Lust withdrew her deadly fingers from Hughes shoulder. The man was now on his knees, clutching his bleeding shoulder in pain, while his wife tried to figure out what to do. Elisia was still being held by Envy and he wasn't doing a good job of keeping her comfortable. He just hung her by her arm a few inches above the floor.

Gluttony looked at the armor that fell at the bottom of the steps. He walked over to it and started dragging the body towards Lust. Al's arm grabbed Gluttony's shoulder in an attempt to prevent him from dragging him any further but that was of no use. He bit right through the armored forearm, devouring the metal. His hand dropped to the floor which Gluttony wouldn't dare pass up eating. He popped it into his mouth as if it were a candy treat.

"I've got his head," announced Cahts, throwing it up and catching it just for show.

"Daaadddyyy!" cried Elisia as Envy dragged her across the floor.

"Stop your sniveling," snapped Envy.

"Meanie!" Elisia said, trying to kick his shin but he would just outstretch his arm to where she couldn't reach his leg.

Hughes looked up at Lust who had a seductive smirk on her face. He asked "Why are you after Al?"

"None of your business. Just tell Full Mini we'll be at apartment 606, Gorge St., at the end of town, okay?"

"You're an ass."

Lust blinked angrily "What does that mean!"

"I mean your an ass for telling me your location. You don't think I won't send troops over there? Idiot!" Hughes spat at her feet with a cocky smirk that would rival even Roy.

The dark haired woman grabbed Hughes's hair and threw him to the ground. "I'm sure that Ed wouldn't let you send them...but just so you don't...we're taking your daughter too..."

"Wait, no!" Gracia objected "Don't take my baby girl, please?"

"Shutup, woman!" Lust was growing impatient. She smacked Gracia, infuriating Hughes further. He jumped up to hit Lust but Envy had that under control. After throwing Elisia to Gluttony for safe keeping he kicked Hughes to the ground. Just for fun, he kept it up.

"Leave him alone! Please!" pleaded his wife, tears in her eyes, she wasn't sure how much he could take. "You're going to kill him!"

Envy stopped, not out of sympathy, but they could all hear sirens coming closer. Lust said, "Tell Full Mini our whereabouts. And if you send anybody we will not hesitate to kill your daughter or Little Elric," She picked up the crying four year old and Gluttony dragged Al's body, "Good day to you, officer."

As they left, Hughes couldn't find the strength to even object. He just slammed his fist into the floor. They had his daughter, they had Al, Edward was down, his wife was in ruins, and he wasn't sure if Armstrong was okay. Could anything else possibly go wrong?

IIIII

Well there we go. Another chapter done and over with! So please do review! And thanks to everyone who DID review.

Sorry for any mistakes. I didn't have time to check it over.

And I'm so glad that people don't hate Cahts! YAY! Well, hate her for being bad. Usually people don't like Original Characters.

Then about Al calling Edward 'brother' all of the time…in the series he calls him 'brother' about 95 of the time, I would say. It just sounds so cute and that's why I usually have him call Edward "Brother" all of the time.


	6. Chapter 6: Dream World

Please review!

A/N: I'm not sure if Al's voice come from his head or from within his body, but lets just say for my stories sake, that it comes from his head, kk? And I now realize that if Elisia is four, then Ed should be sixteen, but I'm not changing all of that right now. I'm to lazy...anyway, thanks for your support! Please review!

IIIII

It had been a half an hour since the kidnapping. Hughes and Armstrong were laying on the two couches, bandaged up by a very emotional Gracia. Upstairs she hoped Edward was still asleep. She didn't feel like explaining to Ed that his little brother was gone...and that...they took...Gracia lowered head in the chair she was sitting in.

Hughes was feeling even more guilty. He had promised Al that nothing would happen to him. Why hadn't he thought of having troops coming over immediately? He hadn't thought they'd attack again so quickly. And he never thought they would take Elisia. He shouldn't have opened his big mouth when she told him the where abouts of where they would be. Then again, if he had sent troops, would they destroy Al?

Edward had mentioned before that Al could be destroyed if the seal on him was broken. So he wouldn't have been able to send them anyway. Now Elisia was stuck with them for who knew how many days. Until Edward woke up and was able to go retrieve Al, Elisia was with them.

"Dear, wasn't Riza supposed to stop by?" reminded Gracia.

"I called her and canceled. I told her what happened and I asked her to give us some time alone."

"Oh, I see," sadly said Gracia.

"I'm so sorry, Gracia," apologized Hughes, rubbing his temples.

"I'm sorry, too," Armstrong put an arm across his face to covered his ashamed look. "I should have taken care of that woman right away and not have warned her."

"It's alright..." Gracia said sadly. She wiped tears away with her sleeve "I'm almost positive that Edward will be able to get them back."

"Almost positive?" repeated Hughes glumly.

"Well, in his condition, it'll be hard for him to do much of anything..." she whispered "The poor boy. Waking up to find out his little brother is kidnapped. He'll probably feel so guilty that he wasn't awake."

"I'm sure he'll feel more angry then guilty," corrected Hughes.

IIIII

The car ride was bumpy. Al could feel every bump as the silent ride became more and more dangerous. If he had blood, it would be boiling, because he couldn't believe that Elisia was in this too. It wasn't fair for her to be kidnapped. She was only four. Poor girl.

Unfortunately, Al couldn't do anything about it, no matter how much he wanted to. Gluttony ate half of his arms so they were nothing but stumps. Plus, Cahts had his head on her lap, and she was driving. His legs were still all there, which meant he could run, but he doubted the back door was unlocked, and he needed his head back.

Elisia was in the lap of Envy, whimpering loudly. He couldn't believe he was the one that had to take care of the brat but Lust wanted to keep her eye on the younger brother.

"I-I-I want da-daddy!" She cried, wiping tears from her eyes.

"Quiet!" hissed Envy.

The small girl, usually so cheerful, quieted down. She knew -even for her age- that they were dangerous. They wouldn't hesitate to hurt her. Al knew that to so he had to be careful on what he said. He may not be able to be hurt, but Elisia was completely capable of feeling physical pain.

"Hey, I've got a question," said Al to Envy.

"What?" Envy asked.

"You aren't going to hurt Elisia, are you?" he said in a worried tone.

"Oh, don't think so little of us, we wouldn't do anything to a little girl," Envy mocked Al by pulling on the small girls arm, making her scream for her father.

"Stop it! You wanted me, you didn't have to take her!" Al stated.

"We didn't have to, but we did, now deal with it Little Elric. You shouldn't worry so much about the girl. Worry about yourself. We could kill you anytime we want to..."

"I don't care. I'd rather be dead than in your custody."

"Don't talk to me that way, you little brat. Unless you want your legs to be eaten too I suggest that you shutup!" warned Envy.

In the back, Lust said, "Little Elric...do you know how long it's going to take Full Mini to wake up?"

"What are you talking about? He's just a bit sick..." Al said, wondering what they were getting at. _A bit sick? That's an understatement. Unless shaking uncontrollably and mumbling strange things is normal when you're sick... _he thought to himself.

"A bit sick? Ha!" Cahts gave a small laugh. "That kids going to be knocked out for days with the dose I gave him."

"Dose?" repeated Al.

"Yeah. I don't know if they told you but I gave him a shot of Nightmare Bottle. Right into the blood stream. Twice as bad as applying on the skin. I'm expecting him to be having very bad nightmares for the next six days. For a guy his side, it should last longer then that, but with him being so strong and all..."

_Nightmare Bottle...I remember that from somewhere...wait! I remember now! Hawkeye said 'It causes nightmares for everyone if applied on the skull'. But she didn't say that it could be put into the blood stream but I guess it can,_ Al thought frightfully. He knew how bad those nightmares could get. And twice as bad? Al now understood why he was in such a bad state.

"Why do you need to capture me though?" Al continued on "You could have just attacked brother. If he's really in such a weak state you could have kill him then."

"This is more fun," Lust spoke up from the back.

"Yes, yes, much more fun," hissed Gluttony, spit dripping down his chin. "I got to eat. Eat not the normal. Thank you, thank you, Lust."

"Oh, no, don't thank me. Thank the boys stupidity of thinking he could get away from us."

"If brother were awake he would have-"

Envy snapped "He would have done nothing! I would have killed that little brat if I had gotten the chance! He's nothing but trouble!"

"You're lying! Brother's much stronger than you!"

"Didn't I tell you to be quiet?" Envy hissed coolly. He looked down at the shivering girl "And you to. Stop your whimpering or I'll break your arms!"

"She's **four years old**. She's scared. Give her a break!" Cahts surprisingly stood up for her "Now, I don't care about this metal thing or that Elric boy, but I'm not going to let you torture a little girl."

"My brothers only fifteen! He's a kid too! Shouldn't you stand up for him too?"

"He lost my respect once he started working for that Mustang."

"He didn't join the Military because he wanted to, it's because he had to," Al snapped back. "For me..." He added slowly.

The ride to the Apartment was quiet rest of the way.

IIIII

_His eyelids were heavy, making it an effort to wake up. Edward finally got to opening his eyes and he saw that he was in a bedroom. Shaking his head he wasn't sure if this was another stupid dream or reality. It looked real enough. From the looks of it, it was Hughes's extra room. Atleast he had made it to Hughes without a problem._

_He swung his legs over the bedside. It was unusually cold. Well, of course, he soon realized he was half naked. Edward tried to find his clothes...not in the dresser...not under the bed...not on the bed...and the rest of the room was bare and he didn't see them anywhere. Oh well. He had walked around in his boxers before so hopefully Hughes wouldn't mind._

_Edward put his hand on the doorknob and immediately heard a scream from outside. It was Elisia! He tried to open the door but it was to no avail. A few minutes later, after trying to open the door some more, he heard Elisia yell once again. Frustrated, Edward kicked the door open._

_He saw Armstrong laying on his back, bleeding badly onto the steps. Al was trying to fight a white haired woman and loosing. Edward immediately recognized who it was. He wouldn't be fooled again!_

_"Hey!" shouted Edward, trying to gain the woman's attention. But she went on to humiliate Al by flipping off his head and catching it. Then he fell down out of his own clumsy habits. "Helloooo! Over here! Pick on someone who doesn't have a detachable head, you loser!"_

_No matter how much he tried to insult her she ignored him. Edward had enough as she kicked the metal body down the stairs. He rushed ahead to help Armstrong get up so they could both lay down the rules on that girl. He kneeled next to Armstrong and tried to put a hand on his shoulder. It went through._

_"What the--" He repeated the action to only have the same conclusion. "That's impossible! Am I dead or something!"_

_He started hitting at Armstrong, but his small fists just went through the man whom was trying to get Cahts to stop._

_"Listen to me! What's going on? Armstrong, can you hear me? Look at me if you can, atleast!" Edward shouted desperately. Armstrong just laid back down, and tried to overcome the immense pain. "Dammit all..." cursed Ed under his breath._

_What in the world was going on? This had to be a dream. It just had to be. Because he soon heard the voices of the two people he hated most: Lust and Envy. He rushed downstairs, and ran right through Cahts, to see a horrifying sight. Hughes had obviously been stabbed in the shoulder by Lust, and he was on his knees in pain, with Gracia sitting next to him, and then Elisia was in Envy's grasp which made Edward's blood boil, but even more so that made him pissed was when he saw Al's right arm had been eaten half-way._

_"None of your business. Just tell Full Mini we'll be at Apartment 606, Gorge St., at the end of town, okay?" He heard Lust say._

_He wanted so badly to help. Edward tried to kick Gluttony in the back but his leg went through him. He didn't even watch the scene between Lust and Hughes any longer, Edward just began running back upstairs. He knew that he couldn't do anything so what was the point of staying down there? Just to feel even more pathetic?_

_**I need to get out of this dreamworld! **thought Edward desperately._

IIIII

I'm so sorry that it was short but I sort of have writers block. I promise that the next chapter will be more interesting, k? I'll just post this chappy with the next one (hopefully, if I remember). Review and have a nice day!

Some people were upset that Armstrong was defeated so easily and wondering when Roy will come in…unfortunately, to move the chapter along, I made Armstrong defeated and Roy isn't coming in (although I love him to death). Sorry!

'_I beg to dream and differ from the hollow lies_

_This is the dawning of the rest of our lives_

_On Holiday'_ - Holiday, Green Day


	7. Chapter 7: Awake

I still apologize that the last chapter was so short! I'll make this one longer, I promise! Please review.

IIIII

None of the sins were careful in the taking care of Al or Elisia. The two were thrown into the bathroom. With the door locked there was no way to get out. There wasn't so much as a window. Besides, what would they do if the door was unlocked? Al didn't have any arms to fight with. He might be able to punch them straight in the face if they stood still but that would be about it with these stumps.

Al sat between the sink and the bathtub and could only hope that Edward would come save him. He didn't like to be the one being saved. He hated it. Not knowing if Ed would be able to get there at all, if they would hurt him, if he was even healthy enough to stand up. When he saw his brother laying in the bed he didn't look like he was about to get up and walk anytime soon. So what were the chances they would be okay? Al could only hope. It's all he could do.

Elisia sat in Al's lap, holding onto his big metal waist. "It'll be okay," Elisia said.

_Oh, great, I've got a four year old reassuring me. Now I know things are bad,_ Al thought.

"I know they will be. Brother will come and save us," Al said. Though, his voice wasn't as reassuring. "I'm sure of it. He has to. He wouldn't just let us rot here."

"Of course he wouldn't!" Elisia encouraged. "And daddy will come too! He'll help us!"

"Uhh...I'm not so sure," Al said more to himself. He immediately saw Elisia's hope go straight down hill and being smashed by his careless words. "W-W-Wait! I didn't mean that! Just that Hughes wouldn't be a match for them! Oh, wait, I shouldn't...um...Elisia...j-just-er-"

"It's alright. You're probably right. S-She did stab daddy..." Elisia wiped some tears out of her eyes. With a small smile she said "But atleast I have you."

"Yeah..." sighed Al. _But I'm not so sure that's a good thing..._

IIIII

"Ed..." Gracia sat beside his bed. She looked behind her to see that no one was coming inside of the room.

The woman knew that this situation was desperate. Edward might get some hidden strength flowing through his veins if he knew the situation. All she wanted was her daughter back. And Ed was the only one who could save her daughter.

"Ed, it's Gracia. I don't know if you can hear me but I hope that you can," she said softly. Reaching towards his relaxed face, she wiped his bangs out of his eyes. "We tried our best. But it wasn't enough. Al was kidnapped and so was Elisia. This black haired woman, small man, Albino woman, and boy were so harsh on us too."

From within his mind, Edward listened. He jumped up when he heard Al and Elisia were kidnapped. What! How could he let this happen? And why couldn't he move his real body!

"Keep going!" Ed said.

"They said that...that if we sent anybody besides you that they would kill Elisia," Gracia said with fear in her voice. "A-And...I don't...I don't want that to happen..." She buried her face into her hands as she sobbed "Please Ed...wake up! We need you more then ever! They just took her and Al without warning!"

_It has to be Lust, Envy, and Gluttony. And that white haired woman. Cahts. Damn them all_, Ed cursed in his mind. He sat down and forced himself to calm down. There was no use in getting angry. _I can't do anything anyway. Getting angry would be pointless. I think all I can do is rest and wait until I can wake up. Then I'll do something alright and it won't be pretty._

Gracia's sobs rang through his mind. He covered his ears but they only got louder.

"Stop crying! I want to help, I really do, but I can't do anything! Stop it!" Edward shouted at no one. He just wanted the crying to stop so badly.

IIIII

"What in the world are you doing?" asked Envy, annoyed. He looked at Cahts who had came into the room with a couple of bags of various things. "I thought you went out just to get your lunch, not a whole slew of things. What did you get?"

"It's really none of your business," Cahts replied.

"None of my business? We hired you-"

"Correction. Miss Lust hired me. Not you. I don't have to do anything you say," Cahts flopped down onto the couch next to a very ticked off Envy. "You really like having everything in your control, don't you?"

"Oh, shutup."

"What did you go out for?" Lust asked. The woman was standing next to the window. She looked out onto the streets with a disgusted look on her face.

Cahts began to pull various things out of the bags. "A coloring book, some crayons, a jug of orange juice, some apples, banana's, pears, peaches, instant-curry, and many cups of instant ramen. I hope you don't mind that I got all of these things."

"What's with all of the healthy crap?" Envy asked. He picked up a pear, took a bite, then spat it out. "Yuck. Humans think this is delicious?"

"I didn't know what that girl liked so I got a bunch of things. Besides, pears are good. You just have to have a good sense of taste," she glared at Envy.

Lust had an angered look on her face. "And why in the world did you get things for that brat? She's a prisoner. We aren't babysitting."

"We can't let her _starve_."

"Yes we can," Envy said.

"If we let her starve, you idiot, we can't even use her as a defense if the Military decides to send someone."

"I doubt that her father will. I mean, his love and caring nature for the brat will get in the way. I can't see why he likes the kid. I mean, all she does is whine," Envy rolled his eyes. He looked over at Lust who was still angered by the fact Edward would be out for six days. "I warned you to question everything, Lust, or things would screw up."

"I don't need you reminding me," Lust replied, hatefully.

"No need to get all mad at me. Get mad at this two-bit alchemist who is buying things for a little girl who is supposed to be our prisoner! Did you buy something for Little Elric too, like some wax to keep up his shiny appearance?"

Cahts only stuck her nose up in the air as she headed towards the kitchen to make some curry for herself and Elisia.

"I hate that woman," hissed Envy.

"I don't particularly like her either but she promised to make a Philosophers stone for us. When we get enough red water and enough people she promised to do it. So keep your mouth shut or she'll run off!"

"Look, I want to be human just as much as you, but I'm not going to pick up every little alchemist I see."

Lust was silence once again. The only noise that echoed throughout the room was Gluttony making hissing noises for no particular reason.

IIIII

The bathroom door opened and Elisia immediately hid behind Al. Al looked up to see Cahts, holding a plate with curry on it, a sliced up apple, and a cup of orange juice in one hand and then a small bag in the other hand. She set them down on the floor and shut the door. Al wasn't sure what she was doing but he didn't think she was going to hurt them. Was she trying to help them?

"Look, I may have been hired to kidnap you and hurt that other Elric boy, so I'm not going to help you. But I'm not completely heartless," Cahts defended herself, seeing the scared look on Elisia's face. "It's dinner for the girl. I brought a coloring book and some crayons for her to play with."

"Why are you helping us?" Al asked.

"I'm not helping you," she spat. "Damn Elric."

"What do you have against us? What did Ed and I ever do to you!"

"Edward Elric became my enemy the moment he joined Roy Mustang. That man ruined my life! I'm telling you that he's a no-good idiot who is only out for himself. You should tell your brother that. Oh. Wait. Guess it'll be to late."

"So, you'll help Elisia?" Al asked, his voice getting a curious tone.

Elisia slowly came out from behind Al. She was hungry...she sat down in front of the tray and picked up the apple. She seemed to inspect it for a moment, all the while looking up at Cahts, just to see if she was going to hurt her or anything.

"I didn't poison it," Cahts said bluntly. "And, yes, I'd help her. Why?"

Elisia bit into it and gave a smile to Al to as to say that everything was okay.

"Would you help her out of here?"

"Ha! You ask to much of me. If I went against Miss Lust, I'd be snapped in two and my head would be on a stick. I think they're getting annoyed with me. They were pissed that I helped little princess here."

"I just thought I would ask. Because this shouldn't involve kids."

"But..." Cahts raised an eyebrow "You're a kid, aren't ya'?"

"Sort of."

"I suggest you get far away from your brother after this. If he survives, that is. With these guys after him, there's no telling who'll they'll go after. Just a bit of advice."

Cahts turned her back on the two when she felt someone tug on her shorts. Turning around, she saw that innocent smile of a four year old. She bent down to her level, asking "What is it?"

"I don't want it."

"What are you talking about?"

"I don't want this. If you're going to not like them, I don't like you, meanie face!" the small girl crossed her arms. "Daddy always said that you don't trust meanie face's."

"Elisia. Don't be stubborn," warned Al. "If she doesn't feed you and it takes brother a couple of days to get here then you could be-"

"Dead, little girl. D. E. A. D," finished Cahts. Her eyes turned from caring to dead cold. She grabbed Elisia by the front of her shirt and threw her roughly into Al's arms (er, stumps?) "You had a friend but I guess you've lost it. Little boy, you should really teach her some manners, otherwise she'll die. Miss Lust doesn't intend to keep her around for long if Edward doesn't hurry."

"W-What are you talking about?" Al asked nervously.

"She plans to send the girl in pieces in two days if Edward doesn't get over here, which is pretty bad for her because he isn't supposed to wake up for six days," Cahts turned back around. She exited the bathroom with a, "Toodles", leaving Al to wonder why Elisia just had to get her father's mouth.

IIIII

Edward felt his head getting heavy again. As if he were getting dizzy, or something. Putting his back against an icy wall for support seemed like a good idea at the time but it only made his head hurt worse.

_Alright...cold and headache's don't mix... _he thought groggily as he tried to keep stepping forward. _I have to stay awake. If I fall asleep...I'll just have another nightmare. I don't want to have another one. I...I have to... _he found his feet getting heavier and heavier to carry so he stopped _...It's not fair._

He fell onto his back with a loud thump. He could feel pain surge through his back but he was just to tired to do anything about it. Edward put a hand over his eyes, trying to think of something else besides being the hero for once. If he didn't get there in time it would be his fault if Elisia and Al were dead. Edward tried to keep himself awake by pinching his arm but that wasn't working.

_Alright. There's only one other way to stay awake and that's a whole crap load of pain. Does my side still hurt? _Edward patted his bullet wound and groaned as it stung. _Y-Yep. Now I just have to aggravate it enough that I don't fall asleep. Desperate sounding but I have to do it. I won't be victim to those two idiots again! I don't think I would be able to handle it._

All he had was a wall. Running in the opposite direction, and with all of the strength he had left, Edward began running towards the wall. He knew this was going to hurt. Bad. But maybe this would get him to wake up?

He jumped and forced his hurt side out. It collided with the brick wall, scraping his skin, making his wound throb and open even more then before. Edward fell to the ground and rolled around on the ground, trying to keep his cries of pain on the inside. He couldn't do it.

IIIII

Gracia jumped back as Edward cried out in pain. "Edward! Edward! What's wrong?" asked Gracia. The boy started shaking furiously. "I-I don't know what to do!"

Hughes opened the door and asked quickly "What happened to Ed?"

"Sweetie, you should be laying down..." Gracia began but Hughes wouldn't hear of it. He kneeled at the beside of Edward with a look of deep concern on his face.

Edward groaned in the bed, sweat all over his body, tangled up in the sheets as his body tried to get comfortable. Hughes grabbed Edward's pale hand in a desperate attempt to get his attention but Edward wasn't there. Hughes could tell. He would have atleast reacted. All he kept doing was moaning in serious pain.

"Edward, I don't know what to do," Hughes said softly. He rubbed the boys cold hand for he was trying to get some warmth in it. "I-It's my fault that Al is gone. I should have protected him better. I don't know if you can hear me or not Edward but I just want to apologize."

Edward could hear him. But he couldn't reply. His outer body gasped for air. He tried so desperately to reply. Only a few words came out.

"Not...your...don't blame...yourself..." he muttered.

Hughes was just as shocked as his wife was. He said, shaking Edward's hand now in an attempt to bring him back "Come on Edward! Fight this! I don't know what you did to bring yourself back but you did!"

"Please, Ed!" Gracia added.

IIIII

Edward realized what he had done. By putting himself in extreme pain his outer body did it too. The pain was transferred into both places. It stimulated both minds. If he could just pain himself enough then he would wake up. He just wished that there was another way. And with Gracia and Hughes cheering him on, Edward used his alchemy to make a spike on his metal forearm.

_This is going to hurt like hell...just hope it'll be enough to wake me up!_ Edward raised his arm. _Alright. 1...2...3...and go!_

He jabbed that sharp end into his upper leg. Edward swung his head back in pain.

_It's for Al...Elisia...I have to save them...if I don't, nobody else will..._ he thought as he struggled with the pain. I_ won't be tricked again! I won't be stuck here! I won't let Lust or Envy or Gluttony control my thoughts! Just as I won't let them hurt my few friends and what little family I've got left!_

He opened his eyes and could feel someone holding his hand. Looking down, he saw that his mind did reflect what happened on the inside. The gash he had made had came out of nowhere to Gracia and Hughes.

Edward grasped onto Hughes hand, "S-So...you gonna' help me or just stare?"

IIIII

Yay. Ed's awake! Won't be long now until stuff will happen. I'm not saying what will happen but...stuff will happen.

'_All the memories I have are beautiful in my mind,_

_But they don't feed the hunger deep inside my soul'_ - Freckles, Rurouni Kenshin opening


	8. Chapter 8: Winry

Well, another chapter for y'all. And guess what? Winry comes! Yay for Winry! Oh. And don't worry, fangirls, it won't be a Winry/Ed fic. lol.

IIIII

Early that next morning Al found himself wide awake. He just couldn't get to sleep. There was a small window high above the bathtub so they got atleast a little light. He could tell it had to be around six because the sun was just rising. Though, his mind wasn't on a rising sun. It was more on his brother than anything else.

If he was seriously hurt and couldn't get here by tomorrow, then Elisia would be killed. Al would do anything in his power to protect the little girl but there wouldn't be much he could do. They'd probably have Gluttony eat his legs too if he wasn't careful.

The last thing he saw was Edward apologizing to him for everything. He didn't want his brother to carry that guilt. How could he? Al knew he made a conscious decision not to stop. He wanted Mom back just as much as Ed did. Maybe it was the whole 'I'm the Older Brother so I must be the Head of the Family' thing. As much blame that went to Ed should go to Al too, and Al would be the first to admit what they did was stupid. Then again, if he was in a human body, they'd probably just torture him for fun, so it was sort of a good thing he was armor.

Al looked out the window once again. Elisia's small breaths filled the air. She laid her head across his leg, her body draping across the floor. He wasn't sure how she could get sleep when he couldn't. She was pretty confident though that Ed or her father would come to save them. Oh how Al would give anything to be a sweet, naive child like that again, oblivious to most dangers, mouthing off at captors without even a second thought.

_She's just so confident about them coming_, He thought.

**"Don't worry! Big brother will come and save us! Or Daddy!"**

_Why don't I believe in my brother? I should. Just that he looked so sick._

**"They wouldn't leave us. I know they wouldn't. These meanie-heads will get what's coming to em! Pow! Pow!"**

_Elisia... _Al thought sadly as he looked down at the little girl, _Give me some of your confidence. I don't think I have any left. In brother...or in myself._

IIIII

Edward lifted his now bandaged leg up off of the bed so Gracia could put a clean pillow underneath it. The elder Elric boy smiled as she began tucking the sheets around him. It reminded him of his mom when he was little. Whenever he had gotten sick she forced him into bed and tucked the sheets as tight as possible, just so he would stay warm, especially if it was winter.

"Thank you Gracia," said Ed.

"No problem," Gracia replied softly. She moved his bangs out of his beautiful golden eyes once more. "Oh, Edward, you look like you haven't gotten sleep in ages. You really should go back to sleep."

"No!" Edward immediately objected. He shook his head slowly. "I-I just can't. I'll be stuck in my mind again. I can't risk it. I have to go save Al. I have to save Elisia. I have to-"

"Stop saying all of these 'have to do this' and 'have to do that'. You are only fifteen! There's only so much you can do!" Hughes entered the conversation. Edward hadn't even noticed he was sitting in the corner the whole time. "You might be a dog of the military now but that doesn't make you any older."

"Oh, shutup," he spat back. The blonde sat up a bit to look at Hughes better. "It's not like anybody else can go and get them."

"You are right on that," Hughes agreed.

"See? If I don't get them in time there's no telling what will happen."

"But...how did you know about them? I thought you were asleep when I told you. I was hoping you were awake but I highly doubted it..." Gracia said in a wondering tone.

"I was awake. I had a vision type thing too. I saw exactly what happened. I'm not sure how or why. I tried to talk to you guys but nobody would respond. I couldn't save Al. Again," he lowered his head. "Why can't we just be normal? I mean, Al being in his body, us just going out together, maybe even school. I've taken all of that away from Al just because I wanted my mother back. I'm so stupid."

"I can't say what you did was right but you were young. Atleast your realize your mistake. Just learn from it."

"Easy for you to say. You aren't stuck with a metal arm or leg!" he thrust his metal arm forward, as if to remind him he had one. "This isn't something we can just forget about. 'Just learn from it'? What have we learned? Pain and suffering? Sorrow and death? Tell me, Hughes, what the hell have we gotten in return for all of our suffering!"

"...You've got me, Gracia, Elisia, Armstrong, Roy, Havoc, Hawkeye, and countless other friends."

Edward blinked. That hadn't what he expected.

"Do you know the wrongs you've made right? If it weren't for you, what would have happened to Fletcher and Russell if you and Al hadn't shown up? What about the achievements you've made? Doesn't that count for anything? The hardships might seems a bit overbearing at times but you've always got a home here, Ed. And with Winry too. You've just been to stubborn to let anyone into your dangerous lives in fear of this happening. Am I right?"

"Y...Yeah."

Gracia smiled. "But I have 100 confidence in you, Ed."

"Really? Why do you say that?"

"Because. You've got a great head on your shoulders. You're strong. I'm sure my baby will come home safe in your arms."

"You just get some rest," Hughes suggested.

Once again, Edward objected the idea whole-heartedly, "I can't! I-If I do, I might not wake up...and the nightmares..."

"They're only nightmares, Ed, I'm sure that you can handle them," Hughes replied, raising an unsure eyebrow.

"You don't understand. They're real to me. I can feel every thing that they do to me. I feel their touch and when they hurt me I feel the pain. I mean, when I figured how to wake myself up, I stabbed myself in the leg, and then the wound just appeared on my leg, right?" He watched as they both nodded "They are definitely more then just regular nightmares."

"Just try it, alright? If you don't you'll never be able to heal and we aren't letting you out in this condition. It looks like you've been neglected for a couple of months or something," admitted Hughes and he found himself on the receiving end of Ed's glare. The man stood up and said "We'll let you be for the time being. Get some rest, okay?"

"...Fine," Edward huffed, curling up into a small ball. He realized that Hughes was serious so he might as well get some rest. He just didn't want to have anymore nightmares about Al...

IIIII

_Edward soon found himself waking up in a cemetery. At night. Full moon too. He shivered at the sight. Not that he was afraid or anything...just that he had heard way to many ghost stories to be in a cemetery._

_"Uhh...hello?" his voice echoed softly into the night._

_He stood up and heard some commotion a little bit away. He swung around, wondering if it would be Lust or Envy, but then he just heard some rustling of the leaves. Edward started walking towards where had heard the noise. Sure, he knew it could be a bad idea, especially since he found it hard to be in a cemetery during the middle of the night but he had to know what was going on._

_Passing a big oak tree he saw a blonde girl standing at a grave. It wasn't just any blonde girl either. Edward raised an eyebrow as he realized it was Winry. She was dressed in all black, her hair tightly wrapped in a bun on the back of her head, holding a dozen roses in her hands, and tears streamed down her face._

_**Did Old Lady Pinako finally die or something?** I mean, **I knew she was old, but she always seemed healthy**, thought Edward._

_"Winry!" shouted Edward as he ran towards his childhood friend. She didn't respond. "Winry? Helloooo!"_

_He waved a hand in front of her face but she kept staring down at two grave stones. Edward thought, Wait. Maybe this is like that other time when I saw Al and Elisia being kidnapped. Could this be like a vision?_

_"Hey? Why are you crying? What's going on?" Edward questioned. Then he thought, Look at the headstones, dummy, and so he did. Then he wish he hadn't. "Al and I are dead? What kind of bull crap is this? Winry, I don't know if you can hear me, but I hope that you can. I'm **right here**. I'm not dead!"_

_Winry dropped to her knees, crying hysterically. The roses fell at her feet, also scattering in front of the grave stones of Ed and Al. Edward hated to see one of his friends cry like this and he wasn't able to do anything about it. Especially Winry. She was always crying over them and everytime Edward tried to make it seem as if he didn't care of her feelings._

_"Winry! Look at me! Stop your waterworks and look at me!" Edward ordered._

_Winry's head shot up. She looked around. "I-Is someone there?" She muttered._

_"Yes!" Edward said happily. He reached forward towards Winry and his hand was successfully put on her shoulder. "Can you hear me now? Winry?"_

_"E-E-Edward?" She stumbled back towards the head stones. Winry looked at the opposite one. It read "Edward Elric", his Birthdate, and how good of a man he was. He was supposed to be dead! "Ed! You can't...I mean...look at this! You're supposed to be-"_

_"Well, I'm not," Edward crossed his arms._

_"But the headstone. I saw your funeral. You were..." Winry closed her eyes tightly as if she didn't want to look at Edward any longer, "...All that was left was your automail. W-We couldn't bury your body. It was...was to mangled and severed to be put in such a respectable grave. So we just said we couldn't find the body to the commoners that came to your funeral."_

_"What happened to me then?" Ed asked._

_"A woman with dark black hair, a boy, and a small man, you, and Al were fighting. You thought you had beaten them so you turned your back to talk to Al...that's when the woman stabbed you in the back," Winry replied._

_Edward hated to hear about his own death. He made a sour face._

_"I was told from then on...I-I can't say it!" She buried her face in her hands. She cried, "This isn't real! This isn't real!"_

_"I am real!" Edward shouted. His eyes softened as he asked "A-And what about Al...they just destroyed the seal and killed him off?"_

_Winry only kept crying. She was to distraught to reply._

_"This is hopeless!" shouted Edward, throwing his arms into the air, and then brought them back down to put them on his hips "I'm not dead, Winry! I can promise you that! Look at me. Do I look dead to you!"_

_"You don't understand! I saw your dead body!" she hollered back._

_"That's impossible. How could I be standing right in front of you if I'm dead? Answer that!" he argued._

_"You're a ghost or something..." She sobbed out. Winry looked up at him, with tears in her beautiful blue eyes._

_Edward reached forward and cupped one side of her face in his hand. He rubbed his thumb soothingly on her cold cheek, feeling horrible at watching such a good person cry un-needed tears. He kneeled down in front of her, his own eyes begging her to stop crying, and to just believe in him._

_"How can I feel you? I don't understand..." Winry said._

_"Me either. I don't understand much of what's going on. Look, I know this has to be a dream, it just has to be. But it seems so real."_

_"Yeah. I thought I had went to sleep but...then I was with Hawkeye. She explained what happened and we went through the whole funeral. Then, for some reason, I felt obligated to come here in the middle of the night. So I got dressed and came. I-I'm glad I did..."_

_"Then I'm really communicating with you..." He whispered. Edward grasped her shaking hand and said "Winry. I know you'll remember this when you wake up. It's happened to me before. Now, I need you to come to Central. Take the first train here. And go to Hughes's house."_

_"But why?"_

_"I need you to do a favor for me. You see..." He began explaining what happened to Al and Elisia. "That's what happened. I know it's hard to believe but..."_

_"So that's why you were fighting that black haired woman! Nobody would tell me what was going on!"_

_"And that's why I need you to come. If this is to truly happen...I need you to do something for me. Just answer me this...what did happen to Al?" Ed asked in a sad whisper. "They killed him, didn't they?"_

_"No."_

_"Then how did he die?"_

_"Al destroyed himself. After you died he became very depressed. He refused to talk to anybody and even though I couldn't see his tears, I could feel them. So, two weeks of suffering ended when he destroyed his own seal," Winry replied._

_"That idiot...!" Edward slammed a fist into the ground. "He should have known better!"_

_"Edward..." Sobbed Winry. She jumped forward and wrapped her arms around the smaller boy. She closed him into a tight hug. "I'll come to Central! I swear I will! I'll do anything you ask me to! I just want to see you alive and well...and please. Don't try to be the hero before I get there, okay?"_

_Edward nodded. If this was his fate, then so be it. He would get his brother back. No matter what._

IIIII

In the hometown of Edward Elric and Alphonse, Winry woke up with her blankets thrown on the floor, and she was sitting up. Hugging her pillow. Blinking in a confused fashion she threw her pillow to the head of her bed. She brought up the ruffled blankets to her body so she could gain some warmth.

_Was that really real? I mean, it could have just been a dream, but... _Winry laid back down with a sad smile _...Why could I actually feel him as we hugged? It wasn't just my pillow either. I could feel him. His warmth. His breathe on my neck. It had to be somewhat real._

_Though, if I'm wrong, it could be my last time seeing him_,and then a flash of Edward's grave appeared in her mind, _If it is true then he might die soon. I have to go to Central_, Winry looked at the sun rising outside her window. Early morning. The next train out would be in an hour so she had to hurry, _I'm packing my bags right away, Ed, and I promise I'll be there soon!_

As she began to pack, Winry began to wonder what it was he wanted her to do.

IIIII

Edward was happy to find himself waking up. Hopefully Winry got the message. He did need her if it really was his fate for him to die in the battle. Ed gulped. He hated thinking he was going to die. Then again, he had a lot to live for still, and that was what kept him going from day to day.

He got up from his bed, painfully but he did, and walked over to the desk that was in front of his bed. Hopefully there would be some paper in there. Edward opened it and saw pictures of Elisia pasted all over it. Obviously it was Hughes work place if he wanted silence. Edward sat down with a piece of paper and a pen, then began to write.

IIIII

Winry took of her hat and placed it in her bag. It had been a long ride, as usual, but she had gotten here. Finally at Hughes house she took in a deep breath. Winry knocked on the door, hoping that she would be right about the dream, otherwise she would be extremely embarrassed. How often was it that people talked plans in their dreams? It couldn't be so often because she had never done that with Ed before.

Gracia opened the door with a surprised expression. "Winry?" she asked "What are you doing here, dear?"

Bowing, Winry explained as quick as she could, "I-I'm sorry to disturb you Gracia but is Edward here?"

"He is. But...how did you know? Did Riza tell you?"

"It's a very long story. Could I see him?" Winry asked, looking inside as if he were going to jump out at any moment.

"He's up in a room resting. I could take you to him. He's sort of injured, too, so don't be surprised."

As she walked in, Winry rolled her eyes, "It wouldn't be like Edward to have me over and him not be injured."

"Winry?" asked the voices of two familiar men.

"Hello," Winry waved to Hughes and Armstrong who were playing with a deck of cards. "I'm just here to see Ed is all."

"Sure," approved Hughes.

As they went up the stairs, Gracia said "Winry, I hate to tell you this, but Al...and Elisia...they were kidnapped yesterday."

"I know..." softly said Winry.

"How did you find out?"

"Ed told me," she blurted.

"But how? He hasn't gotten up to call you, has he?"

Deciding she didn't want anyone thinking she was crazy Winry nodded her head. "Y-Yes. This early morning. He told me everything and asked me to come. But don't tell him I told you, okay?"

"He should have stayed in bed," sighed Gracia.

"W-Well, you know Ed. Always getting into trouble!" Winry let out a fake laugh just to smooth things over.

"He's in here. I'll leave you two alone," Gracia said.

Winry did even knock. She rushed into the room, expecting Edward to be in agony on the bed, but he was still up in the chair. Writing. And he was supposed to be hurt!

"Winry! You came!" Edward said excitedly.

"You idiot!" Winry shouted. Ed covered his ears. "You should be in bed! Gracia said you were hurt! I can see that you are by your bandaging on your leg! Now get in bed before I pull you out of that chair and force you into there myself!"

"Fine, fine, fine," he muttered angrily. He stuffed something into his boxers pocket but Winry couldn't tell what. The blonde boy got into bed and asked "That better?"

"Yes. Much, thank you," she replied. Winry pulled up a chair and there was a silence. "S-So. That dream was real, eh?"

"Yeah. I told you it was," Edward replied.

"I thought I was going mental for a minute when I woke up. I woke up hugging my pillow," She thought aloud. Returning back to reality, she asked "So, there was something you wanted me to do?"

"Oh, yeah," He reached into his pocket to pull out what he had put in there just a moment ago. He looked at the three page writing that took him to many hours to write. He folded it in many ways so it was protected and handed it to his friend. "If anything happens to me, I want you to give this to Al."

"You aren't going to die," said Winry shakily. "You'll be okay. I'm sure of it."

"...Yeah..."

"Please, Ed, whatever you're planning to do, be careful about it!" Winry pleaded with him. "I don't know what I'd do if you were to die. I mean, we've been best friends for so many years, I'm used to having you around, even if you have been avoiding our hometown for the last four years."

"I'm sorry Winry. I can't make any promises. I have to do this though. They'll kill Elisia and Al if I don't go."

"But what about you-"

"_I'm _the responsible one. I have to go. If I die, atleast Al will be okay. That's all that matters. He's almost died on me once and I barely managed to save him then. It was my fault anyway. And this is my fault too...I have to correct my mistakes. If I don't I'm a failure."

"A failure? At what?" Winry asked. "You've done anything for anybody with hardly asking for something in return! You've saved peoples lives! There may have been some people who died on the way but I'm sure the count of the living is so much more then those that died! If you go fighting those monsters without self-confidence, thinking you're a failure, how do you expect to beat them? Did you ever stop to think that you are a hero to so many people?"

"Oh yeah? Like who!" Edward snapped.

"You're _my_ hero!" Winry admitted.

"..." Ed remained silent.

"Ed, you've got to stop blaming yourself for everything that has happened to Al."

"Winry, stop it," Edward hissed "If you're trying to make me feel better you're doing a screwball job of it! Just get out of here if all you're going to do is lecture m-"

"Shutup and listen to me for once!" ordered Winry loudly. What was louder then that was the sound of Winry crying...her tears hitting the hard wood floors... "Just don't do anything stupid. If you sacrificed yourself, what would Al do, huh? What would I do? What about Grandma, Roy, Hawkeye, Elisia, Hughes, Gracia, and everyone else that cares about you?"

Edward sat up in his bed as she continued "Please, Edward, you've got to live not only for yourself but for those who love you. Going in thinking you're going to die and thinking you'll fail isn't going to help. It was only a dream. It was only a dream!"

Edward reached over to the crying girl and brought her to him. He wrapped his arms around her waist and let her cry on his chest. Winry returned the hug without a second thought. He had never hugged her first before. It was kind of strange, yet, Winry loved it.

IIIII

I'm trying not to make it Edward/Winry. I'm trying really hard not to. And don't worry, Ed is going out to get Al and Elisia

back next time. I mean, I wouldn't kill Elisia (remember, she was supposed to be killed in the two days afterwards if Ed didn't come, just as a warning that they were serious) because she is just to cute for words. Please review! Plus, a thank you to all of my reviewers last time!

As for the whole dream thing, I know it seems stupid, but I couldn't think of any other way to get her to come! I mean, Ed wouldn't call her…atleast, I don't think he would.

'_It's a damn cold night_

_Trying to figure out this life_

_Won't you take me somewhere new?'_ - I'm With You, Avril Lavigne


	9. Chapter 9: Memories

A/N: This is sort of a 'Memories' type thing chapter. But he will end up going to save Al this chappy, I promise. Just some cute memories from the past to get away from all of the darkness! Please review!

IIIII

Edward ended up getting up at five o' clock in the morning, opening up the desk once again to start another letter. It had been so much easier to start the last one to Al then this one. What could he say? Well, almost what he said to Al, but a bit different. But why was he still stumped at the simplest of things? It wasn't fun to write these types of things. He hated doing it. But it had to be done. If he really were going to die, he had to say goodbye, atleast one last time, and leave something behind for the ones that he loved.

It wasn't long until the basket was filled with messed up letters. Edward sighed. This was harder then he thought. He looked at the clock in the room. Six o' clock now. Since he was going to go today, he'd better get this done before Winry came into the room. He started scribbling pictures on another piece of paper just so he could get back his thoughts.

_I hope Al is doing okay. I mean, there isn't a way they couldn't hurt him, right? _Edward thought hopefully, but shook his head, _Except...they could be filling his head with lies. They're good at telling lies_, Edward let his thoughts drift but it quickly turned to anger._ I know that I have to go there today. But I'm...scared. I shouldn't be though. Why can't I just be brave? I'm sure Al would be brave. Then again there's no way he could be hurt. He's all metal._

Edward scribbled some more on the drawing paper. He wanted to play the hero but was it regular to be so nervous? How could the hero be nervous?

_I'm kind of tired of being the hero, though. I just never thought that I would have to save Al. He's usually so strong. They did use underhanded tricks to get their way. Using Elisia was hitting way below the belt_, Edward kept on thinking. _I remember when Al and I used to play the hero's when we were younger...that was fun._

(Flashback)

_Al pulled out a small cooking bowl and put it firmly over his head. He pushed it up a bit so he could see his brother who had another bowl over his head too with a spatula in his hand. Al rummaged again in the cupboard to see what he could use. His little body almost ended up in the bottom cupboard as he tried to find the perfect thing. He ended up pulling out a large wooden spoon. He just liked the feel of it in his chubby little hands._

_Edward asked "Are you ready, Al?" as Al backed up from the cupboard._

_The boy nodded, the bowl covering his face once again. That's when their mother Trisha came into the room with a confused look. "What are my boys doing wearing my bowls on their heads?" She asked with a small giggle._

_"We're the hero's. We have to go save the princess!" cheered Al from behind his bowl._

_"Oh. Well, I'm sure that you'll save her just in time," Trisha said._

_"Yep! Oh, and I hope that you don't mind that we used one of your dolls as the princess mom. N-Not that she'll be hurt or anything."_

_"Where is the doll?"_

_"We threw her up on the second highest tree branch."_

_"Just get her back in one piece and you don't have to do extra chores."_

_"Awww..." the two boys whined._

_They walked out to the backyard and next to the laundry that was hung out to dry was the large tree that they threw the doll up into. They hadn't thought to check if she was damaged or anything. The two just hoped not._

_Then they wondered what in the world made them think they could climb trees. Al hated heights and Edward couldn't climb worth squat. So they sat at the bottom of the tree trying to figure out a new (not to mention careful) way to get the doll down so they didn't have to do extra chores._

_"Any ideas?" asked Ed._

_Al pulled his bowl up again to see his brother. "Nope."_

_"You can climb, can't you?"_

_"Yeah. I can."_

_"Then why aren't you climbing already or do you want us to get extra chores?"_

_"No way! I'm not climbing that high! What if I fall?"_

_"You're wearing a helmet."_

_Al crossed his arms. "Thank you so much for caring about my safety, brother," he said sarcastically._

_"Look, if you fall, I'll catch you, alright?" Edward tried to make a deal with his younger brother. "We are supposed to be heroes! We have to do whatever we can to save the princess and if that means climbing a tree then we have to be brave!"_

_"Then you climb it," huffed Al._

_"I told you, I can't climb," he replied. He forced Al to stand up and pushed him over to the first branch that was as high as his chest. "Now get to climbing and throw her down to me."_

_Al gulped and started climbing the branches. Slowly but carefully he made his way to the second highest branch. It wasn't that high but to a six year old it was like a hundred-foot-drop to the ground. He sat on the branch, comfortably sitting in the crook of the tree, and picked up the porcelain doll._

_He waved it in victory "I got her, brother! I got her!"_

_"Is she hurt?" Ed asked._

_Al looked her over. "No!"_

_Edward held out his hands "Now throw her down to me!" He soon had the doll in his hands and set her at the trees edge._

_"Umm...brother? How do I get down?" nervously said Al._

_"Climb down."_

_"But I don't like heiiiiggghhhttssss!" He whined, kicking his feet. One of his boots fell off and hit Ed square on top of the head. "Ah! Brother! are you okay!"_

_"If I hadn't been wearing this helmet I could have been laying here with a cracked skull!" He exaggerated immensely. "Now just get down here! I'm getting bored of this game and this bowl is starting to feel heavy!"_

_"Easy for you to say. You aren't the one stuck up a bazillion feet up in the air."_

_"You are not stuck a bazillion feet in the air! And bazillion is not a number!"_

_"Is too!"_

_"Is not!"_

_"Is too!"_

_"Is not, now get down here!"_

_Al took of his other boot and threw it at Edward, who barely dodged it. "Meanie head!" Al shouted as he began to climb down._

_"I am sooooo going to hurt you when you get down here," growled Ed._

_Al fell on his behind after jumping backwards off the last tree branch. He thought he was safe but he was very wrong. Edward picked up his spatula and started chasing Al around the yard._

_"Moooommmm!" cried Al as he reached the front door._

_Edward got to his brother and smacked him on the head with the spatula. "Don't whine to mom. You threw your shoe at me!"_

_"Only because you're a meanie head!" Al stuck his tongue out and started running again. After a minute it turned into not a revenge chase, but just a playful chase, like brothers usually do._

_"I'm gonna' get you!" Edward shouted playfully._

_"You can't catch me! You can't catch me!" Al replied._

_Trisha opened the front door to see her boys wrestling on the ground. She smiled softly as she closed the door._

(End of Flashback)

A knock on the door brought Ed back to reality. His head snapped up to find Winry holding a tray with a breakfast for two on it. She had a cross look on her face probably due to him not being in bed.

"Ever heard of knocking?" Ed asked as he shoved the note and a pen into his boxers pocket.

"And why aren't you in bed? This is a breakfast for you that I made and it was supposed to be in bed. Ya' know. Breakfast in bed?" She pointed to his bed in an orderly fashion after she set the meal on a chair sitting next to it. "In bed!"

"Geesh, going commando on me?" Ed rolled his eyes as he headed into the bed. He snuggled comfortably under the covers and looked at the breakfast as she set it on his lap. His eyebrow twitched.

Upon seeing that twitch, Winry asked, "What's wrong?"

"Everything's fine...except for..." He slid the milk to her side "I don't like milk. You drink it."

It was her turn for her eyebrow to twitch. Winry said in a forceful tone, "You are going to drink this milk, Edward, and you are going to like it."

"I hate milk! It tastes like vomit!" he complained.

"It does not! It's good for you! That's why you won't drink it! Don't you want to get any taller?" Winry watched as he sent dagger death glares her way for the tragically true 'taller' comment.

Edward stayed silent as he ate his breakfast. Winry asked out of the blue, "When I came in here you seemed to be deep in thought. What were you thinking about?"

"The past. When Al and I were little. We used to put bowls on our heads, take spoons and spatulas, and claim we were going to go save the princess. You've played with us before. You should know how strange we were."

"Yeah..." Winry sighed. She perked up with a smile as she said "Remember that time that your mom hid Easter Baskets around your house for each of us and would do 'Hot' and 'Cold' until we found it?"

"Yeah. That was fun."

"Until Al got sick..." Winry reminded with a small smile. "Why was he so secretive about those things?"

"I don't think he wanted us to worry," Edward said with a smile. "He's always been selfless..."

(Flashback)

_It was another exciting Easter at the Elric house and even better this year because Winry came over to play. Trisha hid the last Easter Basket as the kids waited excitedly in the kitchen, talking about what treat they would eat first and what present they would hope to get. The brunette mother came into the kitchen to the three delighted children._

_"Alright, who wants to go first?" Trisha asked._

_All of them raised their hands._

_"Hey! I wanna' go first!" complained Ed._

_"The oldest should go first," claimed Winry._

_"You're only older then me by two months," Ed reminded._

_"But that's still older then you," Winry stuck her tongue out at her best friend. (A/N: Winry is the same age as Ed, right? I hope I got that right!) "And that has to count for something!"_

_"But-" Edward was cut off by his mother whom he wouldn't dare argue with._

_"Alright. I'll let Winry go first since she's the guest today," Trisha said. She heard a groan from Edward and Al just sat there, staring at the ground. "Al? Are you okay, sweetie?"_

_"Huh? O-Oh. I'm a bit tired, is all."_

_"Lets get started!" Winry cheered happily._

_They started going down the hall but Al didn't follow. Ed came back to his little brother as his mother and Winry searched. "Are you okay Al? Aren't you coming?"_

_Al rested his head on the table. "I'll just wait my turn. Sorry, brother."_

_"It's alright," Ed nodded and went off to find Winry and his mom._

_The searching went on for five minutes until Winry got into the backyard. She got closer and closer to the laundry basket full of clean clothes and when she topped in front of it, Trisha said "You've got it!"_

_Winry pulled back some clothes to find a basket full of chocolates, some small roses, and a small stuffed bear with a heart on it's chest. She pulled it out with a grateful smile towards Trisha. Ever since her parents went to war to help the soldiers Trisha had been acting like a mother to her._

_"Thank you so much!" Winry hugged Trisha's leg._

_"My turn! My turn!" Edward announced._

_They headed back into the house and heard a loud 'THUMP' in the kitchen. They were extremely confused. Trisha asked, "Ed? Where's Alphonse?"_

_"He's in the kitchen..." Edward replied slowly._

_All three of them rushed into the kitchen to see that Al was passed out, on the floor. Winry and Ed gasped in a bit of horror, seeing that he had cut his cheek on the table on the way down so there was blood smeared on the floor. Trisha scooped her son up and headed up towards his and Edward's bedroom. Winry and Ed followed wondering what was wrong with their friend/brother._

_Trisha set him on his bed then tucked the sheets around his body. She felt his forehead with a saddened look on her face._

_"No wonder he didn't join us, he's got a temperature," informed Trisha._

_"Why didn't he say anything!" an upset Winry asked._

_Al's eyes opened, aware that he was being stared at, but unaware of how he got into his bed, "W-What happened?"_

_"You passed out," huffed Ed. "Nice going, doofus. You should have told us you weren't feeling good. Then you wouldn't have gotten hurt!"_

_"I...I'm sorry, I didn't mean to. I just didn't want to ruin Easter especially since this is the first time Winry came over and I didn't want Mom to feel like she planned this all for nothing. Plus I really wanted to just have fun. I didn't think that I would pass out or anything, really, I didn't, otherwise I would have gone back to bed. I don't want you guys to be angry at me either. I'm really, really, really, really sorry," he rambled. He stopped once his mother put a finger over his mouth._

_"Shhh...it's alright. We'll see how you feel later, okay?"_

_Al nodded._

_"Come on, Winry, Edward, I'll set it up so you can paint eggs downstairs. I'll be back up with some medicine for you, alright, Alphonse?" his mother said kindly._

_But, to each of their surprise, Al had fallen back asleep._

(End of Flashback)

"I remember that. You wouldn't leave Al's side. We had to paint eggs upstairs in your room," giggled Winry.

The conversation of childhood memories went in until the afternoon. 1:00 o' clock got to be and Winry went downstairs to heat up some curry for a quick lunch since Ed planned to take a short nap then go for Al.

Winry set the tray on Edward's lap with a smile. His eyebrow twitched again. She asked heatedly "What's wrong now!"

"You still got me milk," he snapped.

"You have to drink milk to get strong bones! You won't get any taller otherwise, you know this, right?"

"I don't think drinking this crap will make me have a growth spurt, no! I've never heard of it doing that!" Ed crossed his arms. "I didn't even drink the one from this morning so what did you expect? Me to turn around this afternoon? I don't think so. I'd rather have water."

"You are so stubborn," Winry said, picking up his milk. "I'll get you water then."

The blonde boy had a confused look on his face. "W-What? Your getting me water? Your actually doing that for me?"

"Sure, why not?" Winry said with a smile.

"Wow. Thanks. I never thought you'd give in like that."

"It's nothing. Really," she said as she headed out of the door. As she closed it a few tears slipped down her cheeks, _Especially since I might never see you again after this. It's the least I can do..._

IIIII

That small nap soon passed, his internal clock waking him up at three. He took in a deep breath. This was it. Time to go.

He got dressed. He really wasn't in any hurry. Then again he didn't want to do it so slowly. Edward knew that Hughes and Gracia were looking forward to the safe return of their daughter. Then Edward was looking forward to seeing that his brother was alright.

He took out that small note again and scribbled an extra piece on it. With a smile, Edward called for Hughes to come upstairs, that he needed to talk to him. The man was up in a hurry.

"What is it Edward?" Hughes asked as he came into the room.

He held out the note. "I need you to give this to Winry if I don't happen to make it out alive...okay?"

"What are you talking about? You're not going to die. You are way to tough to die by the hands of those freaks."

"It's just in case. I don't plan to die or anything," he spat impatiently. He saw the worry swimming in the Major's eyes. "Hughes, don't worry. I'll get your daughter back. And, look, I'm sorry she got involved in this..." Ed ran his fingers through his hair as if he were trying to look for an excuse not to look Hughes in the eyes "...and I'm sorry you had to get hurt."

"Don't apologize. I trust you to do the right thing," Hughes placed a hand on Ed's shoulder "Just don't be to reckless alright? I've never actually told anyone this, much less you, but you've sort of been like a son to me. Same goes for Al. And Hawkeye thinks of you two likes sons also. So don't go doing anything I wouldn't do, okay?"

Edward smirked "So that means I can do anything I want, right?"

"Heh. Still a smart aleck, eh? I'll let it slip by this time. So, you should get going. I know how important getting your brother back is to you."

Edward nodded then headed downstairs. He waved to Gracia and Armstrong who were drinking tea in the front room. Winry came out of the kitchen with tears in her eyes. She hugged Edward once again but didn't want to let go.

"Ed...please, I'm begging you, be careful," Winry said through her tears.

"Right," Ed rubbed her back. "I give you all my promise that they will return. And I will do my best to do the same."

IIIII

"Apartment 606, Gorge St," whispered Ed as he stood in front of the building. This was it. He shook his head, getting rid of any negative thoughts.

He got into the five foot apartment building and everything seemed to be as normal as possible. To the left was the common room and to the right was a small bar. What seemed to be standing out was a pair of red eyes in the common room.

"Cahts! Come out!" shouted Edward at the Albino woman.

She stood up with a smirk. Many looked at the two as if they were a bit nuts. Cahts walked over to Edward, who had a stone-cold determined look on his face.

"So...Mr. Elric. Still trying to be a hero?" she asked.

"I'm not trying. I am the hero," he replied.

A punch was thrown by the woman and he easily dodged it. She shouted as she swung once again "You aren't the hero, you are a fool!"

"We'll see about that!" as he ducked down. With a smirk from the woman upon seeing that he was still as fast as ever the fight continued.

IIIII

A/N: I actually had to re-do this chapter. I accidentally saved over it. I think it turned out better this time because the last one didn't have the flashbacks. I'm sort of glad I had to re-do it. I didn't really mind that I had to either because I have such fun writing it! And I am trying to improve my fight scenes…really, I am! I'll do my best :salute:

'_Pay attention to the cracked streets and the broken homes_

_Some call it slums some call it nice_

_I'd like to take you through a waste land I'd like to call my home_

_Welcome to Paradise'_ - Welcome to Paradise, Green Day


	10. Chapter 10: Fight for Your Brother

Please review!

IIIII

It all happened so fast Edward wasn't sure what was going on around him anymore. As he ducked and tried to find a single moment to use his alchemy on his arm, the people that were in the common room ran away screaming, while the drunks in the bar tried to stumble away. It seemed everyone heard the fighting as the people from the other floors started clearing out also. Edward just hoped that everybody got out of the way because the whole place was going to shake in a bit.

Edward jumped, avoiding a lower kick, and he planted a punch of his own right on her face. She slid back a couple of feet. Edward clapped his hands together and grew out a dagger-type weapon from his arm. Cahts sat up and wiped the blood away from her mouth. She felt a deep scratch right about her upper lip, so it must have been his automail arm he had hit her with, ripping into her face like that. Cahts knew Edward would be furious but the look in the boys eyes...it was kind of frightening.

Edward charged forward, slashing at Cahts's chest, but she narrowly escaped it when he jumped back. He and Cahts kept fighting this way without any real results. They were both so fast that they couldn't catch the other and when they did it was only a scrape or small bruise because the other would get quickly out of the way.

_I'll never win at this rate_, thought Edward. He looked up toward the stairs. That was the only way to Al. _Forget her, I need to get to Al and Elisia!_

He made a dart for the stairs. Cahts wasn't sure what he was during, she thought he was running at first, but she knew that she couldn't let him up there just yet. She wanted to play a bit.

"Oh, no, Mr. Elric! You're staying down here!" Cahts said as she went after him.

Cahts quickly grabbed onto Ed's hood and pulled him back. Edward slipped out of his jacked but tripped forward, landing right on his face. He groaned as he sat up, looking at the Albino woman who held up his jacket in front of him, like it was a big victory she had gotten a hold of it or something. Edward stood up and turned around to go up the stairs but Cahts used the coat more or less as a suffocation device. She wrapped it around Edward's head as tight as she could.

Edward couldn't see nor breathe. His hands scratched at the fabric and he could feel Cahts pulling him down to the ground. He tried to stand back up but everytime he did Cahts would kick the back of his knees, thus making his knees give out on him. She laid him down on his stomach, sat on his back, holding the end of the coat tightly at his neck.

He coughed, struggling to get what little air was left. Cahts smiled both on the outside and the inside. When his arms fell limp at his sides she let go and pulled it off of him. Edward wheezed as his lungs tried to get air in quicker then he could breathe.

Edward was much to busy trying to get his breath back to realize anything that Cahts was doing. Cahts had a sadistic smile on her face as she threw the coat to the side. She put a hand on his scarred shoulder, and wrapped a hand around his upper automail arm, then without much warning to Edward, except for a slight chuckle from the woman, she pulled that automail out.

The cry of pain from Edward was deafening. Cahts held the arm and looked at it for a minute. She shrugged then threw it over her shoulder.

"Now, Ed, how about the foot?" asked Cahts.

Edward tried to move but not much leeway was allowed with her sitting on his back. His breath was shallow as he tried to regain his composure. He couldn't do much. He needed both hands to do alchemy. The weight of her on his waist, putting pressure on his hurt side, made it all the more hard to move around.

Edward took in a deep breath and twisted around. Cahts was thrown off as he used his extra arm to smack her in the side. The blonde jumped to his feet with his eyes scattering around for his arm.

"Dumb little boy!" Cahts shouted as she clapped her hands together. She placed her hands on the ground and two large vines seemed to pop out of the ground and started moving towards Edward. "You better run, Mr. Elric, or you're going to get caught!"

Edward took her advice and started running. The vines stabbed at his feet but he was a bit faster. He lowered his body a bit and grabbed his metal arm that was near the doors. He placed his back against the glass doors, and spun onto his stomach as the vines punctured the glass.

He jabbed his automail arm into his rightful place. He once again cried out in agonizing pain. He felt one of the vines wrap around his ankle. His eyes widened and he clapped his hands together, ignoring the extreme pain consuming his shoulder. He touched the vines and they broke into many pieces wriggling on the floor.

Edward felt sort of like dropping right there. He could feel sweat pouring down his face, his eyelids getting heavy. He shook his head, trying to still regain his breath since he hadn't had the proper time to do so. Cahts stood there as if she was waiting for him to charge at her. Like he was going to. He wasn't about to run at someone who probably had orders to kill him. He may have ran at her before but he was pissed.

"Tell...tell me where Al is..." Edward ordered.

"You sure you want to know? You don't want to find him and that girl dead...because for all you know, they could be," Cahts said.

"They better not be," Edward regained his composure of standing straight with a determined look. "It's room 606, isn't it? Dang. That's probably on the fifth floor, right?" He asked, almost expecting her to answer. Instead she just pretended to be interested in the painted ceiling instead of listening to him. Edward's eyebrow twitched. "Hey! Listen to me!"

"I guess you could go up now. They probably heard the commotion and know your here and are waiting for you. I shouldn't keep you to long if that's the case," Cahts said after sitting down. She said "Then again, I don't want you rushing to your death."

"You wish," hissed Edward as he began walking past her.

"You know, Mr. Elric, I am surprised you are up. That shot I gave you..." she continued talking as he headed towards the stairs "...was supposed to keep you asleep for six days. This is only the third. Good job, shorty."

"Shutup," Edward said heatedly as he made a run up the stairs.

IIIII

Of course, Envy, Lust, and Gluttony were fully prepared for Edward as he rushed into the apartment. They had heard the commotion, not to mention his screams of agony, from downstairs.

Edward looked around and asked "Where are Al and Elisia?"

"Aw, you aren't excited to see us?" said Envy in a mock-sadness. "Come on, Full Mini, you look so angry. Calm down. I can assure you that they are not harmed. We even fixed your brother's arms...as for the girl..." Envy pulled Elisia from behind him, a firm grip on her arm.

_Atleast Elisia's okay...for now..._ Edward thought in a bit of relief. He knew that Hughes's heart would shatter if anything were to happen to his little girl.

"What? But how? _I'm_ the only one that can fix Al," Edward replied.

"I guess you were wrong," shrugged Envy.

"Alright, Elisia is fine, but where's Al?" Ed looked around but there really wasn't much going on. He shouted "Al! Al! Where are you?"

"He's in the bathroom. Go ahead, go check on him," Lust pointed towards the bathroom door.

Edward very cautiously made his way towards the bathroom door. He looked over his shoulder every few seconds just to make sure they wouldn't do anything underhanded like they usually did and attack him while his back was turned.

He opened the door and found Al standing there, in front of him, and there was cry from Elisia of "Run!". Edward was immediately confused.

"Run, Ed! Run!" Elisia cried, tears streaming down her face.

Envy threw her into the wall, knocking her out of breath, "Shutup you little brat! Did I tell you to be quiet? God. Children."

Al raised his fist. "What are you doi--" He couldn't even get out a full sentence as the metal hand connected with his jaw. Edward was forced to take steps back, rubbing his throbbing jawbone. "What in the world was that! I've come to save you from them, not fight you!"

"I-I'm sorry brother..." Al said as he towered his older brother.

"That's right..." hissed Lust under her breath "Get him, Little Elric. Torture him. **We want blood**."

Al nodded as the blonde boy walked backwards into the couch. What was going on? Why was Al fighting him?

Edward turned his head to the sins with a fire in his eyes, "What did you freaks of nature to do Al? What did you say to him to get him to do this!"

"Persuasive people, we are," replied Envy.

Gluttony looked up at Lust, "Can I eat him now? Please, Lust? I'm starving! I'm staring!" He jumped up and down in excitement at the new raw meat that just so willingly walked in.

"Just watch the fight," Lust said.

Al kicked at his brother, Ed was dodging it easily, until Al thrust a hand forward and grabbed him by the shirt. He picked him up high into the air. Edward's feet dangled as he tried to get his hands off of him.

"Al! Put me down! This is crazy! You can't fight me! I'm your brother!" objected Edward.

"I know...but...I-I don't know what else to do!" Al punched Ed in the gut, causing his older brother to loose his breath. He whispered so only he and Ed were able to hear, "They said they'll kill Elisia if I don't fight you. If she gets out safely I can stop but...Envy has her and won't hesitate to snap her neck. I know he won't!"

"Then let me get her and we'll run out of here!" Ed hissed.

Al let his brother drop to the ground, onto his back, and Al placed a foot onto his brothers chest. "It's not that easy..." Al said "...they've put a bomb inside of me. I-If we just run off without warning then they'll set it off. Brother, I don't know what else to do."

Edward's eyes widened at the news. Lust ordered "Little Elric, crush him! Now!"

Al said to Ed "Brother, help me. What do I do?"

"Where's the bomb?" Ed managed to get out, his breathing turning into shallow breath's. "Stop it Al! I...can hardly breath!"

"Keep going. Don't listen to him," without skipping a beat Envy said. "You should enjoy this while you can Little Elric. He's the one who put you in that body. You must hate him, don't you?"

"Shutup!" Al snapped. "That's not true!"

"Al!" yelled Edward in pain, trying to pry his leg off of him.

"He's the reason you're an empty shell!"

"Be quiet! You don't know anything about us!"

"More then you know, Little Elric."

"Stooop!" Edward ordered and all remained silent. He clapped his hands together and put his hands on Al's leg. "Forgive me Al..." he whispered as it shattered.

Al fell backwards and Edward shot up. He looked at Elisia who was cowering at the wall, crying hysterically at seeing two of her best friends fighting. He raced towards the girl but Envy stood in his way.

"Move," said Edward in a dangerous tone.

"Make me."

"Gladly."

Edward grabbed Envy's arm and threw him into the wall next to Elisia. There were whimpers from Elisia as she felt a shiver of fear go down her spine.

Edward clapped his hands and put them on the floor. He then formed a large, solid metal cage around Lust and Gluttony. That should hold them for atleast a couple of minutes, if not more. He noticed a sudden movement from Envy and decided not to risk it. He punched Envy in the stomach, knocking the wind out of him.

Envy looked up, his eyes blurring from the lack of air to his brain, and saw the golden eyes with such fury he wouldn't have thought it to be Ed if he didn't know for a fact it was him. I never thought he'd be so powerful from this anger! He's moving at a pace that none of us seem to be able to control!

Edward looked at Elisia who had run into the corner. He ran over to her, the fury completely gone from his eyes. When he reached to her to pick her up she shivered away from his touch.

"W-What's wrong, Elisia? It's me. Ed."

"Y-Y-You can't be Ed! You're mean! You're going to hurt me like da' others!"

"I wouldn't hurt you."

"But you hurt Al!"

Edward remained silent for a moment. Then, a tremendous pain shot through his shoulder. He looked to see that Lust had obviously gotten out of that metal cage and stabbed him with her finger. She wretched it out, causing him to hold his tongue so he didn't cry out in front of Elisia, cause that would only scare her more.

"Now, now, now Full Mini. It's time to go," said Envy as he, Lust, and Gluttony started surrounding him. He soon had nowhere to go. "Painful or quick? Your chose. Choose wisely."

"I..." Edward began but soon found Envy being the cruel man he was. He didn't even let Ed begin as he kicked Ed's bleeding shoulder. "Jerk!" Ed spat at his feet. "I'm not going to go down as easily as you think!"

"Same to you," Lust smile, extending all five of her fingers. With a smile she slashed down at Ed who curled up over Elisia. Deep gashes were engraved into his back as a result. "Aw, you're becoming my little canvas. Tell me did I do this to you in those nightmares? I like drawing in flesh to tell you the truth. Especially of those I hate."

"You're sick!" cried Al from the other side of the room.

Envy pulled out a switch from his pocket, waving it at Al in a threatening manner, but with a wide grin on his face. "Don't want to talk back to us, now do you?"

"But...you'll die with us!" Al said. "You wouldn't be that desperate to kill brother would you?"

"Don't be ridiculous," Lust gave a small chuckle. "We aren't desperate to do anything."

"Is that so? Then why'd you have to kidnap Al? Why did you have to poison me? I'll tell you why," Edward looked around and shouted, "Because you knew that without doing that I would beat every single one of you into the ground! That's why!"

"You little...!" Lust raised her hand again but Edward was prepared this time. He raised his metal arm and stopped the attack. He slid to the left and then moved forward as quick as he could. He thrust his daggered arm forward into Lust's stomach.

The two fell to the ground in a mix of blood and sweat. Edward stood up with a victorious smirk as she gagged on her own blood.

"Do you want me to blow up your brother! Huh? Because you just ruined your last chance! Say goodbye!" Envy snapped as he held out the switch.

Edward eyes widened. Nothing happened though except for Envy dropping the switch. Ed looked down to see that Elisia had bitten into Envy's leg, causing him to concentrate on that. She picked up the device and threw it towards Edward.

Envy stomped his foot into the small girls back, making her scream for her father once again.

Edward looked at Lust who was trying to get up but he wouldn't let that happen. He stabbed her once again, this time in the chest. He wasn't sure if she would die but then again he didn't care. It was time for payback and he was going to get it.

IIIII

Yep. End of chappy. What will happen? Well, you'll see. There will be two alternate endings. That's all I'll say. Please review!

'_And this life sentence that I'm serving  
_

_I admit that I'm every bit deserving  
_

_But the beauty of grace is that it makes life not fair'_ - Be My Escape, Reliant K


	11. Alternate Ending 1

Please review!

ALTERNATE ENDING #1

IIIII

Edward charged forward at Envy not expecting Gluttony to get into the mix. The chubby man charged Ed into the wall as soon as he was in touching length of Envy. The blonde boy looked at the crazed man as he was trying to get a hold of his metal leg which caused him to fall on his behind.

"Le-Let go!" shouted Edward as he ripped it out of Gluttony's hands. He clapped his hands and touched the ground right beneath Gluttony. Spikes came out of the ground, going right through his arms, his legs, and one spiraled outward and went stabbing into his stomach. "There. You won't be able to move for a while!"

Gluttony still struggled to move even after he realized there really was nothing he could do. Edward looked at Lust who was sitting up, coughing up even more crimson red blood. Didn't look like she was going to fight either.

Facing Envy, Edward could help but smirk, "So. Just you and me now."

"Yes. I suppose so," Envy replied with a cocky attitude. "You managed to get them out of the picture but I won't be as easy. I'm the smarter of the three, you see."

"Oh yeah? Is that why you got yourself in this mess in the first place? A smart guy would have ran out of the room the first moment he saw I was coming in."

"Ha! You must be kidding me. You sound so confident. Tell me, do you really think you're great?" Envy put a hand on his hip with a big grin increasing across his face. "I'm not sure you're such a great an alchemist as they all say. Sure, you can attach souls to suits of armor, but then again who wants that? Common sense would say no. Guess you didn't think. Then there's everything you've **failed** at doing. Let me name them..."

Edward's face turned pale. He was right. Who wanted to be stuck in a suit of armor?

"Does the name Nina ring a bell to you?"

"Shutup, you don't know anything about Nina so be quiet!" demanded Edward, throwing a punch at his face but Envy turned around and smacked Ed hard in his hurt side with a kick. The blonde dropped to his knees out of fury, frustration, and pain.

"You were to late to save her. Tell me," Envy bent down to Ed's level, "What was it like to see a Chimera? You should have felt a bit special, Full Mini. Not a lot of people get to see those."

"I-It wasn't anything to be proud of. Shou was a sick man. H-He used his own daughter," replied Edward as he stood up. His breathing became shallow as his side tried to repair itself, in other words it hurt badly to breath.

"I thought dogs of the Military weren't supposed to have feelings?" Envy questioned as he hit Edward down onto the floor once again.

Al shouted "Brother! Run!"

Ed looked up a bit at his little brother, his vision was blurred, feeling pain all over his back as Envy buried his foot into his spine. Edward grunted in pain but refused to cry. He clapped his hands together then put his hands on the ground. A large metal pole came out of the ground.

Before Envy could jump back Edward hit him in the side. The sin went flying into the wall, cracking the wall, causing rubble to fall all around him. Edward hurried over to Al and started picking up the metal pieces of which he had broken earlier. All that ran though his mind was that he **was** a failure, he had **failed** to save Nina, he had failed in his **duty** as an older brother.

"Al, I'm going to fix your leg, and then I need you to grab Elisia and get out of here," informed Edward as he got the final piece around Al.

"Brother, you have to come with us. I'm not leaving you here with them. They could all be faking it and just waiting for me to leave so they can gang up on you!"

Edward clapped his hands then touched Al's chest. His pieces went back where they belonged and he had a leg again.

"Brother!" shouted Al, pointing behind him.

Edward swung around.

_...A woman with dark black hair, a boy, and a small man, you, and Al were fighting. You thought you had beaten them so you turned your back to talk to Al...that's when the woman stabbed you in the back..._

Al jumped in front of his brother as Lust tried to stab Edward one last time. Instead, she got Alphonse, who's armored chest only got a little scratch.

Lust hissed, "You aren't getting out that easily."

"Oh yeah? Try and stop us!" Edward stuck out his tongue.

Lust smiled as she knocked over a large lamp in the corner near the doorway with her stretched fingers. The bulb busted, touching the carpet, resulting in a large flame bursting forth. It seemed her idea was that if she wasn't getting out, nobody was getting out.

It consumed the doorway.

"What now?" asked Al who was in half-panic.

"Umm..." Edward looked around. He saw the window and said quickly "You're going to be jumping out of a window."

"What!" exclaimed Al. "Are you nuts? Do you know how high up we are? We are not at a good height to do such a thing."

"I know you're afraid of heights but you have to get yourself and Elisia out of here," Edward started coughing from the smoke that was starting to float on the ceiling. "I don't need either of you dying on me! If this place burns up you could very well be melted metal on the floor!"

"I'd rather take that risk then you loose you," Al admitted shyly.

Ed stood up and looked at Al. Lust was on the floor, vomiting up even more blood onto the floor. He glanced over to Gluttony who was still struggling to get out of the spikes and Envy was still under the rubble. Then Elisia was nowhere to be found.

"Damn. Where'd Elisia go!" shouted Edward as he looked around.

"I don't know," Al said as he began to move closer to the flames because she obviously wasn't on the fighting side of the room. He was the only one that could because he couldn't feel the extreme heat. He could hear his brother coughing from the thick smoke that was slowly moving downwards. "Elisia! Elisiaaaa!" He shouted. The smoke was almost like a fog, making it so hard to see.

"I want daddy!" a little voice shouted but he couldn't pin point where it came from.

Al said "Follow my voice, Elisia! Come here! We'll get you out of here, I promise! Please, come out of wherever you are hiding! We need to get out! Then we'll take you to your father! I promise!"

"I think she's in the bathroom," said Ed, coughing some more. He rested his back on the wall, then to his glove off and started breathing into that for a bit of fresh air. He added "I'm hearing sobs from in there but I can't open it. The doorknob is hot from all of the flames."

Al finally made his way over and opened the door. Sure enough, Elisia was sitting on the toilet, crying.

"Elisia!" said Al, happy that they finally found her. He picked her up in his metal arms and tried to soothe her. "It's alright Elisia. We'll get out of here." She started coughing just as bad as Ed was. "Brother? What do we do?" There was no answer, just coughing, but he couldn't separate Elisia's from his brothers. "Brother?"

Al looked down at Edward who was sitting on the floor, trying to get some fresh air at a lower level.

"A-Al, get out," Edward said.

"But brother-"

"I said get the hell out! Just be careful jumping out. I'll be right behind you. I just have to see about something first."

"...Fine," Al accepted that he wasn't going to be able to sway his brother. He made his way towards the window, not sure if he really wanted to jump or not, because it looked like such a long way down. "Elisia?"

"Y..eah..?" she coughed out.

"Get in my suit, alright?" He said.

Elisia was confused "There's room for two in there?"

"Just get in here, please?" He pleaded.

Elisia climbed in, her eyes poking out from underneath his helmet. She was extremely confused why he was empty but feeling much better because inside there wasn't any smoke.

"Hold onto something, Elisia, this is going to be bumpy," he warned.

Edward heard the sound of glass breaking. Good. Al must have done what he told him to do. Now he had to see if all of the sins were done with. It was a stupid thing to do but he had to make one last round. He wouldn't have them come back for revenge or anything. He crawled on the floor, covering his mouth with his glove, and soon saw that Lust was having just as hard a time as him in breathing.

He made his way around her so she didn't notice him. He bumped into something and looked up. Envy was scratched, bruised, and cut and had a look of extreme anger on his face. Envy kicked Edward in the face, causing him to roll a couple feet towards the window.

"You aren't going to make it out of here alive, Full Mini! I'll make sure of that!" shouted Envy from within the fog of smoke.

Edward stood up. He could either jump out the window or he could fight Envy. Then again, in this puff of smoke, how would he be able to fight? He looked down to see that the Military had arrived and were about to hose everything down. He put a foot on the ledge of the window and put his glove in his mouth. It was time to go. He couldn't stay. He had promised to many people that he was going to come back.

He jumped, not thinking that someone would catch him. It was a long way down and he just hoped he would make it out with just a few broken bones or something. Then he felt someone holding him in their arms. He opened his eyes to see Roy looking down at him, his firm arms holding him in a tight grip, almost like a hug.

"Uhh..." Ed blushed nervously "You can..." He have a small coughing fit then finished his sentence "...let go, ya' know."

"You are extremely reckless, you know that?" Roy smirked. He set the small boy down in front of him and started rubbing a wet cloth on Ed's face since he had black smudges all over his face, not to mention bruises and cuts, "You should have had us come over at some time in the fight, you idiot."

"Hey! They said that they'd kill them if I didn't come alone," snapped Ed who was in no mood to be lectured. He grabbed the cloth and muttered "I can do it myself!"

"I guess so."

There was a small silence. Well, except for the hosing down of the building, people muttering or screaming everywhere, and even more Military cars coming by.

Roy stood up and sighed. He looked away and said, "Look, Ed, I'm glad you made it out alive."

"...Huh?" Ed was surprised to hear those words come from his boss. Then added sarcastically, "What do you mean 'glad'? You should be damn near ecstatic I'm still alive."

Roy put a hand on Ed's shoulder and smiled.

"Wait. Where are Al and Elisia?" Ed frantically looked around.

"Don't worry. Elisia's in an ambulance being taken care of and Al is with her," Roy pointed over his shoulder to an where they were. "I have to tell you though: Good job, kid."

"Kid?"

"Yeah, _kid_."

"I'm not a kid!" he waved his arms in fury.

"I was kidding with you Edward. After this, it's going to be hard thinking of you as a child any longer."

Edward couldn't help but smirk. It was a complement, in a way.

"Anyway, I called Hughes and he should be here any minute now. You might want to watch out for him becau-"

"Edward!" He heard a cheerful voice call. The next thing the blonde knew he was in a crushing hug, "Oh thank you so much for getting my little angel back! You are the best kind of friend a guy could ever have! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank yo-"

"You can let go now," informed Ed, squirming in the grip.

"Oh. Sorry," Hughes set the boy down again.

"That's the second time in five minutes I've been hugged," complained Edward as he pushed the wrinkles out of his shirt.

"Oh really?" Hughes looked at Roy whom looked at the ground. "I wish I was here to see that."

"Um, Hughes, did Winry come with you?"

"Yeah. Any second now you'll get a third hug."

Edward felt a hand on his shoulder from behind and looked around. Winry was standing there with tears in her eyes. Not sad tears, but those of joy that her best friend made it out alive. She closed him into the third hug.

"Winry? D-Don't cry," said Edward, patting her back to calm her down. "I'm alive, there's no reason to cry."

"I'm so happy you made it out! Oh Ed!" Winry sobbed onto his shoulder.

Edward rubbed her back. "It's okay Winry. I told you I wasn't going anywhere."

"Aw, a nice little happy family?" cooed a familiar voice only to Edward...

"Damnit, I knew this was to easy!" hissed Edward as he swung around, putting Winry behind him in a protective stance.

Cahts was, after all, still alive. Ed had forgotten all about her! And he really wasn't in good shape to give a decent fight right now. His whole body was aching and he felt like he could fall over and go to sleep for a couple of days.

"Who's she?" Winry asked.

"Is that your sister or something?" Cahts asked, bringing out her gun and looking at it, as if threatening them that she still had ammo.

"No. I'm his fri-"

Ed cut her off. "She's nobody. Just a bystander."

Winry felt someone grab her arm and she looked to see Al, "Come on Winry. Lets get going!"

"But-" before she knew it she was being dragged away.

"Now what do you want? I thought you had nothing against me. If the homonculi are dead shouldn't you be giving it a rest already?" Ed asked.

"But you killed Miss Lust. I can't let that go."

"Bishop..." Roy Mustang took a step forward "...you are under arrest."

"Oh my. I've just had a change of plans!" announced Cahts, cocking her gun than pointing it at Roy. "I'll take care of you first."

Roy raised an eyebrow and took a hand out of his pocket, putting his fingers in the snapping position. "As soon as you fire that gun I'll burn you so bad you'll be screaming for your mother. Now do you really want to shoot me or are you ready to die?"

"Just as cocky as ever, I see."

"Of course."

"Well? Aren't you going to kill me, Colonel?"

"Now why would I do that?"

"I can see it in your eyes. You want to."

"No. I'm not murder-hungry like you. Now put your gun down and come peacefully and nobody will have to get hurt."

"To bad I'm so stubborn..."

"Yeah..."

"Umm..." Edward looked at the two in a stand off and wondered if he should do something but Roy glared down at him for a moment.

"Don't move Full Metal," He said.

"Yeah. If you do I'll shoot you first," warned Cahts.

"Don't do this. Do you really want to get revenge for someone that was evil in the first place or are you just that stupid!" shouted Edward, more than frustrated with the whole situation.

"Shutup you little bother! You don't understand! I'm pissed off at Roy for just being the cocky bastard he is!"

Cahts moved forward at Roy, just one step, and the Colonel snapped his fingers. Cahts ran towards the side to where the lot of by standers were and grabbed a-hold of a woman, holding her in front of herself. Roy's attack stopped and Cahts threw the woman down and held the gun up towards Roy again.

"Just stay in one spot. We can just end this now without getting innocent people hurt," Roy said.

"I don't care anymore! I'll kill you if it's the last thing I do! It's either you or I and I'm just fine with dying!"

The time for talk was over and the shot rang out, the fire started, and there was a clap of the hands. Edward had been quick enough to make a stone wall just tall enough to cover where the bullet aimed, which was his stomach, and that gave Roy room to fire his flame without being stopped by the wall.

Cahts was engulfed in flames. It's like she didn't even try to move away! She just stood there like an idiot. She dropped to her knee's. Laughing.

"She's nuts! Why is she laughing?" Edward asked watching the flames starting to burn out, revealing her severly burned skin that was starting to peel.

"Death. It's what she's wanted all along," Roy replied. "From me anyway."

"Huh?" Ed raised an eyebrow.

The elder man sighed. "Bishop said that if she were ever going to die she'd like to die by my flame because she could truly be happy with the end. Though, she probably thought she would have injured me in our final fight, but it really didn't take much to take her down either."

"Is she still alive?"

Roy shrugged. "I dunno and I don't really care. Let's just get going and let the police take care of her."

Edward nodded. _Thank God, it's finally over. Everything's over!_

We probably should have went home and celebrate but we didn't. I, for one, just went home and took a nap, and for once in the last couple of days had good dreams…

IIIII **END**

The next chapter is the sad ending. This one was the happy one well except for Cahts but nobody really cares about her, right? Anyway please review and you don't have to read the next chapter cause...well...if you don't like sad endings or torture scenes than it's not your cup of tea.

But thank you to all that have read this far! You all RULE! You have my gratitude and you can have some…er…POCKY! YEAH::gives a cheesy smile and a thumbs up:

_'Now the stories played out like this  
_

_Just like a paperback novel  
_

_Lets re-write an ending that fits  
_

_Instead of a Hollywood horror'_ - Someday, NickelBack


	12. Alternate Ending 2

Please review!

ALTERNATE ENDING #2

Warning: Strong violence, torture (I'm not sure if it should be boosted up a rating for torture or not but I think I'll do it just to be safe)

IIIII

A smart person would run from this. A smart person would pick up Elisia, drag Al, and run like there was no tomorrow. But when said person's common sense is blinded by anger, frustration, and pain, said person becomes oblivious to anything around them; especially if that thing happens to be their death perception. Edward kept thinking that if he just stayed strong and concentrated on beating them he would be able to.

How very, very wrong.

The sins were now only two. Lust was left without another thought to die. That was, if she could. She felt as if her whole world was spinning out of control. The small but muscled figure that stood over her was blurred. The figure was Edward who was looking over at Envy and Gluttony with fury in his eyes.

Elisia had somehow made it out of Envy's grasp and made a sprint towards Al who was still sitting there, broken pieces that once made his foot all around him. Edward stood in the way of Envy who had tried to get at Elisia. No wonder, if he had a hold of her, Ed wouldn't attack. But now that he didn't have anything to hold against him he knew that the State Alchemist would go all out. No matter. Having Elisia in their clutches didn't mean they wouldn't win.

"So, Full Mini, you think you're tough? You know, just because you are a State Alchemist doesn't mean you're special or anything," Envy said.

"I have no time to talk," Edward punched Envy in the face, knocking him to the ground.

Envy wiped the blood away from his mouth as he sat up. "Cheap shot. You won't be so lucky next time."

"You'll learn not to mess with the only family I've got left," Edward cracked his knuckles as he walked towards the sin. "I'm pissed off as you can tell."

Envy couldn't help but admit that punch had hurt. He hadn't felt pain like that in a long time. Edward's anger had boosted his power in some way. Seemed strange to the sin. No matter. Envy still had a strong belief that they would be victorious in this fight.

"And I'm pissed off that you're still alive. So I guess we're even."

The blonde went to transmute something but he didn't think anything of Gluttony who charged at him. Before he could complete anything the chubby sin tackled him to the ground.

Ed laid on his back, his head sort of spinning after hitting the floor so hard. He felt breath on his face. He looked up to see Gluttony's face only an inch from his. The teen made a disgusted look and pulled himself out from underneath him.

"Time to eat!" Gluttony declared insanely as he charged once again.

Edward dodged it but then felt something on his shoulder. He spun around to find Envy's fist connecting with his face. He hit the floor once again with both Envy and Gluttony at his side. He tried to get up but Envy dug his foot into the boys chest.

"Ha, Full Mini. Thought that you could beat us? I don't think so, you little nothing," hissed Envy.

Edward put his hand around Envy's foot in an attempt to get it off but Gluttony grabbed both of his hands from behind. He held them tightly leaving Edward with nothing to protect himself with.

"You won't beat me either," Edward said.

There were some insane chuckles from Gluttony. A shiver went down the youth's spine, _Oh God please don't let him eat me_, Edward thought, _I'd rather be shot through the heart then be eaten alive. Then again I shouldn't say that because they just might act out my request._

"How can you say that? We have you right where we want you. On the floor. Helpless. You know you'll die, right? You fell right into this trap hook, line, and sinker. You are so entertainingly stupid when we toy with your emotions. I mean, you should have seen your face when you realized Al was going to fight you," rambled the sin who had a cocky look that Edward couldn't help but hate.

"I came because you had my brother and friend. What the hell did you expect me to do! I'm not going to abandon my friends!"

Edward looked at Al and Elisia just to see if they were okay. Well, they weren't out of danger, but atleast no one was attacking them. Elisia had crawled into Al's arms and started crying once again. The blonde closed his eyes and set his head back down.

What was he doing on his back? He should get up and fight these guys. Just that he already felt defeated. Edward couldn't get his arms away from Gluttony, Envy kept digging into his chest, and the only reason he hadn't started crying out in pain was that Al and Elisia weren't even ten feet away from them. He wouldn't give Envy the satisfaction of that anyway. His face showed signs of extreme pain though.

"Aw, keeping it in?" Envy teased.

"Shutup," Edward hissed through clenched teeth. "I'm not giving in to you."

"As long as you die a horrible death, I don't care if you give into us or not," he replied as he shrugged his shoulder as if he were talking about a nice summers day. "And I'll be the one who'll give out that death sentence. I'll be creative, don't worry."

Gluttony shouted "But Lust said I would be able to eat!"

Envy snorted. "Heh. Look. She's not even able to get up. Does it look like she's in charge anymore?"

In fact, Lust was having trouble breathing, much less getting up.

"I'm hungry!" argued Gluttony.

"Ugh, be quiet, Gluttony. I'm not in any mood to argue with a _pig_," Envy insulted the short sin. The boy looked down at the teen who was still struggling under their grip. "Now, where were we? Oh. Yes. How can we kill you?"

Edward's eyes widened as Envy pulled out a dagger from what seemed nowhere. Envy sat next to the teen, looking at the short knife with a sadistic smile, as if he were deciding on how he was going to start whatever he was going to do. Edward knew what he was going to do. That's why the widely known emotion known as fear had filled him.

Just like anybody else faced with this situation his imagination started running wild. _Man, I have to get loose. I'm not going to let them torture me in front of those two. I just..._ He struggled once again, trying to pull his arms down as Envy started tearing off his shirt _...I can barely move! Dammit! If I could just get my arms down I could pound him into oblivion!_

Envy pointed the dagger at Edward's throat. "So, Full Mini, tell me, what does it feel to be completely helpless?"

"..." Edward looked away. He knew that he was helpless.

"Hey, look at me when I talk to you, brat!" the sin ordered in an annoyed tone. He absolutely hated being ignored.

Edward closed his eyes in an effort to get everything cleared. He just wanted to hit somebody. Preferably Envy. His hands tightened as he felt the dagger started slicing into his chest.

Al couldn't watch. He turned his back, holding Elisia tight so she wouldn't dare try and look. His screams as Envy dug the knife deep into his flesh were ringing throughout the apartment.

Al began to think that there was no way they would make it out of here alive. Were they really going to die? If Ed were going to die here he would die along with him. There was nothing to live for if Ed died. Besides, his brother was the only one who could get him back in his body, his chance at being human would be ruined if he died now. Al wouldn't dare live like this for the rest of his life. That wouldn't be living at all.

Blood. Screams. The carpet absorbing the red liquid underneath the hurting boy. A sadistic smile. Ed could see that smile through the aches and pain.

Was this really the end?

The knife was pulled out of the deep hole in his stomach and there was no time to relax. His arm throbbed when the dagger entered it.

No. This couldn't be the end of it.

Elisia cried even louder as the shouts from Ed worsened. "Don't cry. Everything will be okay. Brother will find a way out," shushed Al as he held her close. "He will. He always does."

"Don't be so sure," Lust hissed through the screams.

The fourteen year old looked at her. She was still laying on the floor, blood dripping slowly from her mouth. But that mouth was smiling even though she felt as if she were dying. Smiling. Al hated it.

"I know he will," Whispered Elisia to Al. Her eyes shut as she caught a small glimpse of the horror. "Make him stop screaming...!"

Edward felt the dagger go back into his gut, deep within his stomach. Envy moved the hilt around, the inside moving also, causing Edward to scream. His throat raw and dry from all of the yelling. He was in so much pain that he couldn't bare thinking about another second of being alive.

"J...Just kill me...!" Edward said.

Al hunched over in defeat. Elisia continued crying.

"Oh no, no, no," said Envy. "This is to much fun. You should see your brother too. I bet if he could cry he would right now. But that little girl is doing all the crying for an army."

_Al? Elisia? I-I have to stop this. I have to get up and fight...for Al and Elisia...and myself..._ thought Edward. _I'm failing though...I'm a failure._

**If you go fighting those monsters without self-confidence, thinking you're a failure, how do you expect to beat them? Did you ever stop to think that you are a hero to so many people?**

_Winry_, Edward thought as his vision blurred. He was loosing to much blood. His eyes were starting to burn. Dizziness.

**You're _my_ hero**

Even though he was in so much pain Edward found a strength he hadn't felt before to pull his arms down. Gluttony somehow was thrown off a couple feet away from his feet and hit a table. The small man was easily knocked out. Sitting up was a painful effort but he ripped that dagger out from his stomach.

"Bastard!" shouted Envy as he reached for the knife.

"Like you have room to call names!" Edward replied. He stabbed the dagger into Envy's arm. The sin pulled back. "I'm not going to let you rule over me! You won't kill me! Not in this life and not in the next!"

Edward stood up, holding the wound loosely with his injured arm. Blood fell everywhere in large amounts as if it were natural. He coughed and covered his mouth. He looked at his glove. Blood.

Envy stood up and kicked Edward in the face. Edward stumbled back but held his ground. He clapped and put his hands on the ground.

"Die," hissed Edward.

The sadistic smile turned emotionless. A large spike went through Envy's chest, leaving his lifeless body hanging in the air.

Edward slowly walked past Lust and over to his brother. He fell to his knees, his blood mixed into his breathing. He gargled and vomited blood next to Al whom couldn't believe what was going on. Was his brother dying?

"Brother!" shouted Al. "Come on, brother! We have to get out of here! You need to get out and into a hospital right now!"

Edward looked up at his little brother. "I...I have to fix your foot. You have to run," he said under his breath.

"What are you muttering?" Al truthfully couldn't understand what he had said. He watched his brothers slow movement.

The blonde grunted in horrendous pain as he started the transmutation on Al's foot. All of the pieces rose and came back to form his metallic foot once again. Edward hunched over in pain. The dizziness was beginning to be to much.

"Come on, brother, we need to get out of here," urged the younger Elric.

Elisia looked at Edward with a fear in her eyes. "Big brother? You okay? Why do you have so many owies?"

Edward smirked. He managed a, "It's alright".

"Why aren't you getting up?" Al asked.

"I-I can't...you just run," Edward said.

"I'm not leaving without you, brother. There's nothing that could make me leave without you!" Al said with frustration. "Why do you keep thinking that you have to stay behind? You aren't going to. I won't let you. You aren't going to die here!"

"Al! Listen to me! You're getting out of here!" snapped Edward harshly. "I have to finish what I started. Besides, I won't make it. I'm loosing to much blood to survive. I have to make my last moments meaningful."

Edward stood up and wrapped his arms around Al's waist, embracing both Al and Elisia into a hug.

"I love you guys..." Edward whispered. "Now, you have to get out."

"B-Brother?" Al questioned as the elder brother pulled away. He started backing up and clapped his hands. At the last moment, Al looked around Ed's back to see Lust stabbed him one final time in the back... "What are you doing?"

A thick metal wall divided Al and his brother. Al set Elisia down and started pounding on the door. "Brother! Brother! Stop this! You can make it! I know that you can! If you just come with us to the hospital you can get the help that you need! Don't be stupid! You're all I have left! I need you! I-If I don't have you, what do I have left? Brother! YOU'RE ALL I HAVE LEFT!"

There was no answer.

On the other side, Edward had got the spike out of his back and crawled to Lust and looked at her face. She was near death. Just a minute away.

"Go ahead...I know you want to," Lust hissed softly.

"My pleasure," Edward hit her in the face one last time.

The blonde fell backwards. He closed his eyes and the darkness started slipping over his mind. He could hear the faint noise of Al's voice. His life had been meaningful. Now it was time to let the suffering that his body was going through to end.

Edward's last breath was taken that day, at 4:05 P.M.

After a minute Al saw that it was useless. Sobs echoed in his armor. Elisia looked up sympathetically at the armored boy. A part of Al was ripped from his soul. Ed was dead.

"Brother!" screamed Al as he fell to his knees.

Elisia dug her head into Al's side, sobbing along with him.

IIIII

Al made his way towards Hughes's house. He hated to be the bearer of bad news. How would he say it? Certainly coming outright with the news would just make his death seem even more sad. Though they would want to know why he hadn't come with him.

Elisia had fallen asleep in his arms. Al thanked God that atleast she had survived. Then it hit him. He really was alone. His dad wasn't anywhere to be seen, his mother was dead, and now his only family was dead too. How could this have happened? Why did it have to happen? Edward sacrificed so much for so many people already and now he had to pay with his life?

_This is all my fault. I should have been more careful! I shouldn't have gotten kidnapped! I'm so sorry, brother_, Al thought sadly.

There really wasn't anything that he could have done though. He hadn't wanted to admit it but what Edward said was true. If he had tried to get out he would have died anyway. He had lost to much blood to survive...

_Brother? Will you ever forgive me?_ Al began to think again as he got to the Hughes's door. _I'll understand if he doesn't. If I got myself killed because of my stupidity I wouldn't forgive myself either._

Al knocked nervously. The door swung open to see Winry, then Gracia ran to the door with tears in her eyes as soon as she saw Elisia sleeping in his arms, and Hughes walked over with a big grin. Winry looked around Al. He knew what she was looking for.

"Where's-" Winry began.

Al interrupted before she could begin "He's...not coming back."

Winry's eyes grew wide. "Y-You...mean...?"

Al nodded as he handed Elisia to Gracia. He entered the house with a sigh, "I'm sorry Winry."

"Edward..." softly said Hughes.

Armstrong came over, expecting to see Edward too, but as soon as he saw everyone's faces he knew that he wasn't there.

"I'm so sorry, Al, Winry," apologized Armstrong.

Al didn't say another word. The boy just wanted to be alone for a while. So he separated himself from the others, in the room his brother slept in, and thought to himself about the good times they had had over the years. After all, they were all he had left.

IIIII

By the time supper time rolled around Winry was beginning to worry about Alphonse. She hadn't expected him to be happy but to atleast come downstairs to dinner. Then again, why should he? He wasn't able to eat. But he used to always join them for dinner even if he wasn't able to. She ate her dinner as quickly as she could then remembered what Edward wanted her to give him.

She got upstairs and knocked on the door. A meek, "Come in," came from inside.

_Poor Al. Ed was the only family he had left. No wonder he feels so down_, thought Winry sadly.

Winry came inside with a fake smile on her face. "Al? Why don't you come down and sit with us? Gracia is planning to take us all out later too, for shopping," Winry informed as she sat next to Al who was sitting in the corner.

"No. I don't want to. Thank you anyway."

Winry frowned. "Al, you know you can't stay up here all the time, right?"

"Why can't I? It's not like I'll starve or dehydrate," he snapped. He saw the hurt expression on his friends face and saw that she was only trying to help. "I-I'm sorry Winry. Just that...E-Ed's gone. It's hard to believe."

"He left a little of himself behind," Winry dug into her pocket and handed him the letter. "He said to give it to you if something happened," The girl stood up, sensing that he wanted to be alone. "I'll leave you to it. Just promise you'll come back downstairs after reading, alright? I don't want you to sit on your thoughts or be lonely."

Al nodded as she left the room. He began to read the letter.

**Dear Al,**

**Hopefully you don't have to read this but I just wanted to prepare for what might happen. I'm really hoping that I'll be alive but, hey, nobody knows what's going to happen, right?**

**Realizing now that I'm dead while you read this I know, because I've known you all of my life, you'll blame yourself for my death in some way. Nu-uh. No way. Stop it. Stop it. Stop it! There's no way that me dying is your fault. Blame it on the enemy. If there was something you could have done I know that you would have done it.**

**I want to apologize for everything that I've done to hurt you. I've realized over the years that you've grown up a lot faster then most fourteen year olds should have to. You've come near death, been faced with things you shouldn't have been, and it's because I made the mistake four years ago because I missed Mom. I hope that you don't hate me for me putting you in that metal body. It may have been selfish of me but I didn't want to be the only Elric around, you know?**

**To tell the truth I don't know where I'd be without you. With my temper I probably would have ended up in jail if you didn't use your common sense. You always were the calmer and cooler one of the us, right? Heh. Even if you used to cry a lot when you were little. I remember when I opened your Christmas present by accident and you cried because you should have opened it. We were silly when we were kids.**

**I've taken a lot of time to figure you out. I mean, you are more mature then a lot of the adults we know. You always use your common sense. You are so kind to everyone you meet. You'll show mercy to the most villainous person we could meet.**

**Stay the way you are, Al. You were a great little brother. I just hoped I was a good big brother.**

**And please try to live on. Life gets hard. I know it can be. It's been no easy road for either of us, I just wish I could be there to see you get your first girlfriend (you WILL get one, I know it, you're a charmer!). Pick out a good one alright?**

**It's hard to say it. It's always hard to say goodbye and apologize. I'm sorry I didn't get you back in your original body before I passed. I'm sorry that I got you in that body in the first place. I know you hate it. You can hate me a bit for putting you in there, you know. I'd understand.**

**Though, my biggest regret (and this will sound sappy) is never telling you enough how much I love you. I usually keep my emotions locked up (except for my frustration, sorry!) and don't let people know how close to me they are. You were the closest to my heart and you always will be. So, well, a final goodbye, alright? Take good care of yourself, Winry, and everybody else! I know you can do it!**

**Your big brother, even in death,**

_Edward Elric_

If Al could cry, he would have.

"You were always a great big brother, Ed, I just wish I got to tell that to you," Al said, his voice cracking a bit. "Though deep in my soul I know that you know it. And that's good enough for me."

IIIII

"Winry?" Hughes said to the girl who was in the backyard, staring up at the passing clouds, her thoughts drifting away in the slowly approaching darkness.

Winry smiled, "Yes?"

"Ed left something behind for ya'," Hughes handed her a paper. "I'm sure he'd want me to give to you so you'll feel better. Alright?"

"Thank you," Winry said. _He left one for me too?_ She thought in a bit of surprise. She began to read eagerly as Hughes headed back into the house.

**Dear Winry,**

**Well, first off, I'd like to thank you. Not a lot of people would stick through with Al and I like you have over the years. I've made a lot of stupid mistakes that put your life in danger too. I'm glad you've been by my side the whole way through.**

**You've always have been part of Al and I's family. You're our older sister in a way. I usually don't like to ask people for help, but when I get between a rock and a hard place, I'd always come to you. Sometimes I wanted to call you 'sister' just in the way Al calls me 'brother'. I wish I would have just once. Though, you'd probably be confused.**

**I have to ask you to keep Al's spirits up. With that dream, and you telling me he committed suicide by destroying his own seal, it worries me. If he even thinks about it you rip his arms off and knock his head off with one of those strong hits with your wrench. Remember? The ones that you always used to try and kill me with?**

**Anyway, thanks. It's been a hard road. I'm sorry that we couldn't have hung out more in these last few years.**

**Your best friend,**

_Edward Elric_

**P.S.: Thanks for the water, sis!**

Winry choked back tears as she looked at the letter. "T-Thanks for the water? Ed...you always were strange..." She wiped away tears as she cried the loss of her best friend.

_Though, everything will be okay_, Winry thought as she wiped away her tears, _Everything will be okay. Right Edward?_

She looked into the sky and a sign from Edward appeared. It just had to be. A beautiful rainbow appeared in the sky the moment she looked up signaling that he was alright and that they should be too.

IIIII Do I have to say it? **...The End!**

Wow. I actually completed the story::throws a party: I do realize that this is MUCH longer then the happy chapter…sorry! I'm just the Angst Queen!

I would like to thank all of my reviewers! Thank you! You all get pocky and...and...my gratitude...?

'_Do you remember me ?  
_

_Lost for so long.  
_

_Will you be on the other side ?  
_

_Will you forgive me ?'_ - Tourniquet, Evanescence

**Sakaki's Little Sis**


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